


Tomie Kurosawa

by CirclesArePointless



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!, Tomie - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Crack, Crack Crossover, Crack Treated Seriously, Crossover, F/F, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Horror, Regeneration, Supernatural Elements, Tomie AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:01:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25382755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CirclesArePointless/pseuds/CirclesArePointless
Summary: Tomie is an urban legend that has spread throughout Japan as quick as she could duplicate herself. Little did they know that the Kurosawa sisters of Aqours' fame are closely related to one of them.(AU where Dia and Ruby have Tomie's abilities and how Aqours tries to deal with it.)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	1. Prologue

“Ok girls, it’s time for some spooky stories!”

The lights of Chika’s bedroom were swiftly turned off, leaving just the light emanating from the torch that the host was pointing at her own face. Aqours had just finished filming their Halloween-themed PV due to be released by the end of October, and what better way to keep up with the theme than with a horror story sleepover at Chika’s place? The girls agreed to spend the night together at the Takami ryokan inn, as long as they don’t disturb the others by being too noisy or rowdy. Given the context though, it may seem a bit too unrealistic to do so considering how there might be some who are easily frightened, but they’ll try their best.

“Kukuku, this fallen angel is always prepared to listen about the exploits of my fellow brethrens of the darkness,” Yoshiko (or rather, Yohane) goes off with her chuunibyou schtick as always, and to be fair, this does seem to be right up her alley. Some suffered from a slight secondhand cringe at the sudden outbreak, but the rest of the girls were eagerly impatient to find out what the orange-haired girl had up on her sleeves.

“Hehehe, this one will leave you sleepless, I promise…” Chika proudly exclaimed with a rather sinister tone in her laughter, though some were doubting the statement.

As she started to tell her tale, her speaking tone gets slightly lower than usual, trying to get the right feel for an effective story-telling session.

“Well then, let me introduce you to a girl named Tomie.”

The name rang a bell to most of the audience, especially those who are very familiar with urban legends. They had heard various accounts on the mysterious entity associated with such a lovely name, tainted by the bloody acts committed under her name, usually by men who were so depraved of her love that they would even kill for her, and ironically, the usual victim was herself. There were detailed narrations on the many ways the murder was done, some can be quite gruesome and unsettling. But what unsettles them more is how after each of her death, no matter how minced her meat was, she will always come back, and very often, she will come back in numbers.

“Well, it seems some of you knew about her quite well.” Chika smirked upon seeing their facial expressions. She then went on explaining her backstory in case someone was still left in the dark, starting off with her irresistible appearance. Her beautiful face, her almost pale skin, she had described her figure in every detail she could think of, from her hime cut down to her beauty mark under her left eye.

After her rather lengthy description on the girl’s seemingly perfect looks, she went on to tell them what makes this Tomie Kawakami so horrifying. She explained how this teenager had more than just beauty on her side, her charms were dangerously enchanting. There had been many tales of men who had lost their livelihoods and sanity just to appease her, despite her rotten personality and the way she treated these men. Speaking of which, she had also described how selfish and entitled the girl is, how her arrogance would make Nico Yazawa’s self-centred persona more like child’s play. She would go to great lengths just to break someone apart morally, she even has a penchant for manipulation, sowing the seeds of jealousy to some, and even gaslighting people to some extent. And she very much enjoys seeing people losing their sanity from her very own eyes, even if it spells the death of her.

There was a slight pause after her explanation, and as she was about to continue speaking, she was stopped short by someone else in the room.

“Sorry Chika, but may I ask you something?” asked Dia, who was apparently as out of the loop as her younger sister.

The storyteller motioned to the student council president to go on, only to scoff at the question, very uncharacteristic of her usual demeanour.

“She? Alive? Hahaha, of course THEY are still alive and well!” She responded rather cynically, with a strong emphasis on the word ‘they’. Her sudden change in tone almost made Ruby shrieked, holding on to her dear sister. Chika continued her narrative, explaining what exactly she meant by those words.

“I’m pretty sure some of you might wonder why I said it like that. What we’re talking about here is not just a single person,” she paused for a short while, building up the tension in the environment, “we’re talking about hundreds, maybe even thousands of the same person! And they’re out there almost everywhere in Japan, some maybe even made it overseas!”

She continued her story, explaining on how they managed to duplicate themselves into identical copies of the same girl. At this point, it almost felt like listening to a biology teacher explaining mitosis, as she described the process of her duplication, how she was able to regenerate herself from even the tiniest bit of her remains. The whole room was filled with dread, the girls reflecting on the ramifications of such a monster, no, monsters still let loose in the world. Of course, they’re called urban legends for a reason, but that’s not going to stop the chills passing through their spines.

“So, it’s no surprise that one of them had made her way here in Uchiura, and since then, there had been rumours about her sightings, and how there had been a rise in bizarre incidents around the village.” Chika continued, still holding on to her torchlight steadily.

Now that the exposition is set, Chika can now shift her attention to the main story, one that she had second-hand experience with.

“Now that I think we’re on the same page, it’s time to tell you something that happened in this inn, just several years before I was born.”

Chika had heard of an account of a horrifying incident that happened here from her family and is now trying her best to retell it to her friends.

“Well, it was a dark and chilly night in the middle of winter, and a couple decided to pop in here for the night. My mother dealt with the check-in, and there was nothing suspicious at first, she initially thought.”

The torchlight then moved closer to Chika’s face, her eyes becoming more unsettling.

“That is, until a loud piercing scream was heard throughout the entire building. A worker rushed to the source and was met with a terrifying scene. There was red blood everywhere on the floor, the walls, even the ceilings! And there, he saw a man chopping a woman violently into many scattered piec-”

“PIGIII!” A loud shriek was heard, emanating from none other than the scaredy redhead, who was visibly shaking, disgusted by such graphic depiction.

“Chika, I think you’re going way overboard there…” You interrupted, slightly worried about her childhood friend’s state of mind.

“Oh, hehe, sorry about that.” Chika was so engrossed in her story that she failed to pay attention that some of her fellow friends were already starting to get disgusted, maybe body horror is a bit too much, there was already a lot to take in anyways. Besides, she didn’t even realise that Ruby was already squeaking throughout her entire monologue before exploding into a sonic boom, much to her elder sister’s dismay.

She scratched her head nervously and proceeded to just simply conclude her story without the squicky parts. The tale ends with a bloody room in need of a costly clean-up, the authorities being contacted, and a worker going insane days after.

Done with her part, she decided to sprinkle some interactivity, asking the others if they have anything else to add about Tomie. She got back a considerable number of stories from her pals, Riko, for example, told them of the incidents based in Tokyo, though most of her recollections are from hearsays. Meanwhile, Yoshiko went with the stories she remembered from an internet forum about the supernatural that she frequented, she takes great interest in the paranormal after all, despite not being a fan of horror media, ironically.

After the exchange, Chika dragged the narrative back to the context of Uchiura, concluding the storytelling session.

“However, almost 20 years have passed since her last sightings in this small village, and a sense of normalcy had returned. No more bizarre murders and people driven to insanity, but one couldn’t help but wonder what made this wicked monster disappear. There was never a concrete answer of course, some say that someone must’ve burned her body for good, or that she moved out to terrorize other towns…”

“Oh, but what if she’s still here?” Mari barged into Chika’s conclusion, her yellow eyes eyeing intently at a certain student council president.

Everyone followed suit and started chattering about the uncanny resemblance.

“Not gonna lie, when she started describing her appearance, I thought about her at first…”

“Oh yeah, isn’t her mother’s name Tomie?”

“They both have the same facial features, the hair, the mole, this is more than just a coincidence…”

“Well, she does sends chills to my spine sometimes…”

“But the mole isn’t even in the same place, zura”

“BUU BUU DESU WA!!”

As if Ruby’s shrieks earlier weren’t loud enough, here comes a resounding shout that could tear this ryokan inn apart.

“That is absolutely ridiculous!”

“Calm down, it’s joke!” Mari responded playfully with her broken English, trying not to anger the raven-head any further.

Unnoticed to them, the sliding door to Chika’s room was slowly sliding open, and an apparition appeared before them in the dark.

“Boo!”

The girls were caught off guard by Chika’s older sister, who was standing still in the dark corridor, reminding them of a promise they failed to keep.

“What did I tell you about making noises?”

“Sorry, Mito-nee! We were just having a spooky story session, hehe…” Chika nervously laughed.

“Well then, tone down the volume next time, you’re going to make some of the customers awake.” Mito then closed the door rather swiftly and walked away from the scene.

“Ok, sorry…”

The night had gotten darker already, and they certainly do not want to risk having a disgruntled customer, especially for Chika because they’re the main source of her family's income. The girls then laid onto their futons (except Yoshiko, who brought her own shark hammock cause why not?) as they prepare for a good night’s sleep, hoping the stories earlier wouldn’t haunt their dreams. As time passes, most of Aqours had already fallen deep into their slumber, save for one fallen angel still laying on her hammock, as she reflects back on the earlier events. Her eyes might’ve fooled her at that moment, it could’ve been just an illusion, after all, it’s hard to see clearly under the dark, but she swore she saw something unnervingly creepy during the storytelling session. As she was sitting beside the Kurosawa sisters during the entire session, she was certain something was not quite right when she thought about it. She noticed it twice, once when Ruby loudly shrieked from Chika’s rather graphic description, and another when Dia let out an assertive denial, dispelling the ridiculous theory. Even if it was just for a split-second, her spine at the time was shivering when she recognized it.

Small, deformed yet exact faces of the sisters were slightly protruding from the back of their heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it started out with [a meme](https://www.reddit.com/r/Otonokizaka/comments/hdwt58/i_made_a_shocking_party_discovery/), how did it end up like this?
> 
> like seriously, that's the entire premise of this crack crossover, both dia and tomie kinda looks the same lol, and i just kinda rolled with whatever my head could think of.  
> i mean, at this point i already wrote like 3 chapters and i have the story outlined till chap 5  
> why
> 
> also, this prologue is definitely inspired by this: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19rwM0j9P_A>


	2. Chapter 2

The girls had a blast during their sleepover last night and after contributing some final touches to the PV and some editing together, they all returned to their respective homes the next morning. However, Ruby realised she forgot her sewing kit later in the evening, and now both she and her older sister went back to the Takami Inn to retrieve it. The kit was safely recovered, and now they’re on their way back home, with the beautiful evening orange sun accompanying them. While walking along the streets, something inside Ruby wanted to talk about yesterday’s sleepover, the tales of yesterday sometimes lingering in her thoughts.

“Onee-chan, do you think Tomie is real?”

“Wha-what makes you think so?” Dia was shook back by the question, not expecting her younger sister to actually believe it, or so it seems.

“Ne-never mind. Just had a thought, that’s it.” After seeing Dia’s initial reaction, the younger girl just shrugged it off, not wanting to make the walk more awkward.

Dia, being the responsible big sister she is, would not give up on her sister just yet, so she kept on pressing her if the topic had been bothering her lately.

“What’s on your mind?”

After a moment of silence, Ruby opened up her mouth, and told her sister what she thought of yesterday’s story.

“Nothing, it’s just that, I’ve been thinking about it since last night.”

“Are you scared, Ruby?”

“No, no, wait, yes, kinda? Ugh, it’s hard to explain, but I’ve been thinking about mother.”

“What do you mean?”

“Uhh, I don’t know why, but don’t you think she looks exactly like her? Like, even down to where her beauty mark is.”

The elder sister put much thought into what was blurted by the redhead, but her rational mind jumps in as she tries to assure her little sister.

“Even if you think it’s real, don’t you think it’s a little bit silly to say they’re the same just from the looks? You know mom is the exact opposite to Tomie when it comes to personality.”

She then further added, “and why would a being like her even need to have kids when she can just get someone to cut her in pieces for her to grow back just like in the stories.”

“Uhh, onee-chan, I think you got carried away there…”

Dia realised the fact and cut her speech short to finish up her points.

“Either way, if we were daughters of Tomie, we would probably grow up to be exact copies of her just like in the stories, no? Like how that one little child got turned into a Tomie because she had some of that cursed blood inside her bloodstream.”

Ruby slowly nodded in agreement and thought that maybe her mind was just taking fiction too far. The sisters continued walking, deep in thought with the discussion they earlier had. While the whole premise is, frankly speaking, a stretch, their brains tuned back to why the theory even came to be. While their ways of life can be interpreted as traditional in a sense, they didn’t think that it was weird or suspicious in a way. They never went to a hairdresser, instead, they have their parents cutting their hairs when it gets too long. And speaking of blood, their mother often advised the sisters to tell her or their father if they ever get cuts, no matter how miniscule they may be. They just thought that maybe their mother is a bit paranoid, and after all, it’s better to get that wound plastered than to risk an infection.

With their mansion now just several steps away, a lonely figure was hiding on an alley nearby, shaded by the two houses sandwiching the alley in between as the sun begins to sink from the landscape. Things took an unexpected turn when the figure lunged straight into the girls with no warning, revealing his figure under the setting sun. The young man, dishevelled in appearance as seen from his messy black hair, slashed Ruby’s back open with a butcher’s knife, leaving a long bloodied gash on her back, and much of her blood splattered around the street, some of the red liquid even landed on an innocent cat passing by. The redhead let out a blood-curling scream as she laid over the street, crying for help.

It all happened in split seconds, but Dia somehow managed to get a hold of her senses and realised what had just occurred and got her hands on the slasher, trying to push him away from doing more damage to her precious little sister. However, things took a turn for the worse, as the madman swiftly shifted his attention to the elder sister, and with no second thought, he brutally chopped off Dia’s entire left arm, making the victim losing her consciousness due to the sudden loss of blood from where the limb was. As she collapsed on her feet, the assaulter stopped terrorizing the two girls, and made a quick run far away from the scene, bringing along Dia’s severed arm with him.

Ruby laid down there helplessly, still hurt from the assault, as she tries to maintain her consciousness. She slowly stood up and saw the bloody mess she was in, with her clothes entirely soaked in blood. She made her way to her beloved sister, who sacrificed herself just to protect her. The sight of her sister, missing a limb and seemingly lifeless, brought tears to her face, her sister was too young to end up like this, and she herself, cannot afford to lose her dearest sister. Luckily, home was not that far away, and hopefully their parents heard her cries, if that’s possible. One thing she needs to keep in mind is to not call the ambulance first, as she was told by her parents, instead, she should notify their parents first. She can’t seem to figure out the logic behind that order, but as an obedient child, she would have to heed those advice, and her hands were too bloodied to touch her phone anyways.

Instead, she got closer to her sister and tried to carry her limp body over her short figure. She was still writhing in pain, but somehow it has started to subside. She took great care of Dia’s body while walking slowly to the front doors of their home. Her father had already rushed outside by then and was extremely horrified by what he saw. Seeing both of his daughters coming home soaked in blood is certainly not a sight to behold, especially when one of them was missing an arm. He helped lighten Ruby’s burden by bringing Dia inside, lifting the weights from her shoulder. As the whole family met together inside, the concerned mother asked what happened, though it doesn’t seem that she’s too worried about it.

Ruby explained the whole gory incident to her parents, down to the smallest details from her recollection, but her tone was extremely shaky, no doubt she was completely traumatized by what had just happened. Dia was still lying unconscious on the floor, but thankfully, she’s still breathing, and she’s breathing fine. After a brief moment of silence, her parents told her to wash off her body and go straight to bed, giving some time to heal. At this moment, Ruby started to be slightly rebellious, sleeping it off was surely not enough to heal these wounds.

“Why not bringing us to the hospital? I have a huge wound on my back here and it’s still bleeding, and onee-chan just lost her arm! Don’t you think we need some serious medical attention here?”

“Calm down, sweetie, everything’s gonna be alright, you’ll be fine in the morning.”

“Bu-but…” Ruby tried to resist further, but it seems like it’s going nowhere, as her parents seemingly doesn’t share the same level of worry as her. Her father had already gone upstairs to bring Dia to her bed, and Ruby should do the same to herself. She walked to the stairs, still dismayed by the bizarre decision to not get a doctor, before her mother made another request.

“Oh, by the way, please do not tell about what happened to anyone outside of this house.”

The redhead slowly nodded but was quite shocked at how she needs to keep mum about the whole situation to even her close friends. While she could do it discreetly, she does not want to go against her mom’s words out of honesty. As she got to her room, she laid on her bed with her stomach, not wanting to sully it with her bleeding back. She then closed her emerald green eyes, hoping that maybe she’ll wake up from this nightmare.

\----

“Aaaaah! I’m so sorry I failed you, Tomie!”

The young man, fresh from the crime scene, was extremely disappointed that he was not able to carry out her dear lover’s request. He doesn’t really seem to know why he was doing this, other than to just satiate his lover. But reasons are not needed for love he thought. He would do anything for her, and yet he failed to do so. Such a shame. A pity. He tries to subdue his fear of rejection, but the more he does it, the more she clouds his mind. He can never escape from her, and that’s what makes a potential rejection more painful. But whatever. Maybe she’ll give him another chance. And if she doesn’t, he would not hesitate to push this knife he’s holding right now, straight into her heart, just like how she would break his heart if that were to happen.

As the madman continued his dash beside the beach, he suddenly felt his grip onto something being somewhat challenged, and the look on his face turned to horror as he looked at the limb he was holding onto with his right hand. The fair-skinned arm was trying to slide away from his strong grip, with the hands attached seemingly stretching out its fingers. The eeriness of the situation made him lose concentration for a little while, loosening his grip. The severed limb slid out smoothly, and lunged straight into the perpetrator’s face, the palm covering his entire face. Temporarily blinded by the sudden attack, he swiftly pulled the limb out with brute force, and tossed it away miles into the ocean.

Regaining his breath after what had just transpired, he continued running away as if nothing just happened, while laughing maniacally in the process. His brain had started to lose some screws here and there, but it doesn’t matter anymore, what matters is that Tomie will be his, and if he had to be insane to achieve that, so be it.


	3. Chapter 3

The sun was slowly seeping into the skyline of the small seaside town of Uchiura, where most of the girls from the school idol group Aqours is based on. One of them is Ruby, the youngest of the Kurosawa sisters, and if it weren’t for the events that unfolded the day before, this would’ve been her average Monday morning where she would’ve walked to school with her older sister, Dia. Instead, she’s laying on her bed, still recovering from yesterday’s injuries.

And recover she did.

She slowly opened her eyes, and instantly moved her hands to where her wounds were, or rather, where her wounds should be. Her face was filled with disbelief when her hands were met not with a bloody gash or some scar tissues, but instead, just smooth, silky skin, as if nothing ever happened in the first place.

“Was yesterday a dream?” She thought out loud.

But it can’t be, no matter how hard she hoped it’d be. The incident was still fresh on her mind, the trauma too unbearable for an innocent teenager like her. And yet, it seems as if her senses were making a mockery of herself. She slowly stood up and went to the mirror, just as a double check. She turned her back facing the mirror and was shook at what showed up at her vision.

There really was nothing but her normal skin, not even a single blemish on where there should’ve been a long gash that stretched along almost the entirety of her back. Maybe it was a twisted nightmare, she thought, a nightmare so vivid that she couldn’t differentiate it from reality.

But if those events weren’t real, then that means Dia should be fine, right? A silver lining was found in the midst of her confusion, hopeful that her beloved sister is well and healthy.

She slowly crept into the hallways and towards her sister’s bedroom, where she found that the doors were slid ajar. Curious, she sneaked further towards the door, and saw her mother inside. Out of courtesy, she knocked the door slowly, and asked if she could come inside.

Inside, both Ruby and her mother were standing across the bed, observing Dia who was still fast asleep. But what shocked Ruby the most was her left arm was still missing, proving that yesterday did happen. Upon further inspection, she noticed that, just like her back wounds, her sister had ceased to bleed from where her limb was, and disturbingly, there were bits of skin and meat at its place, seemingly taking the form of a hand, but way smaller. She was about to let out a slight screech, but her mother patted her back, trying to calm her eyes who had certainly seen too much.

“I’ll explain it later when she wakes up,” her mother told her nonchalantly.

Dia was still fast asleep in her slumber, but it did not take her that long for her eyes to open after a rather long sleep. She slowly regained her consciousness, trying to recall what happened before she blacked out. When the realization hit her, she suddenly jerked upright, much to the surprise of her mother and her younger sister, who were looking after her from across the room. She moved her right arm just to make sure it’s still there, then she proceeded to do the same for her other arm, which she was sure she lost it from yesterday’s struggle.

But somehow, she could feel her left arm as if it still exists, even able to control it by moving it around. Despite that, it felt different in a way, and she knew something was not quite right, so she peeked over her left shoulder, and at that moment, a high-pitched screech, not unlike her younger sister, can be heard throughout the entire house. The two observers rushed to her side, providing the comfort she needs so that she has the time to process what she had witnessed.

“Wh-what’s this? What’s happening to me?” She asked while showing off the lump of meat on where her missing limb was, slowly growing into the shape of an arm.

The mother lets out a small sigh, preparing herself an explanation to tell her lovely daughters.

“Alright sweeties, I think it’s about time you two know more about myself, and hopefully it’ll answer your questions. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever told you two my maiden name,”

The two sisters were listening keenly to their mother, paying close attention to what was being said.

“Well, before I’m a Kurosawa, I was a Kawakami.” A slight smirk was showing on her face.

A bombshell was dropped inside the household, essentially answering the daughters’ suspicions as doubtful as it seemed, and even that of their friends from the sleepover, as joking as it seemed. It became clear where they might’ve inherited their magnificent regenerative ability, but some questions still linger. They still didn’t know if a Tomie can reproduce in a conventional manner, or how they managed to keep a distinct and unique identity from the duplicates, but maybe it was just something the tales and legends never bothered to touch upon.

“W-wait, so the stories are real?” Ruby shakily asked the question, though the answer had already been obvious.

“Yes, my dear, and believe me, there are many of them roaming around Japan, or the world even.”

“But mom, you don’t seem like the kind of woman that has her wretched personality.” Dia regained her composure from the initial shock, still fiddling her growing limb around.

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe it, but I have done many, many nasty things in the past. That is, before I found your father.”

“But I thought a Tomie never bothered about having a relationship, she only uses her partner as some sick play toy, no?” Dia retorted.

“Well, I hate to admit this in front of the kids, but in fact, you’re not that far from the truth. After all, he is rich and all, but I have other purposes for him too. And you two were the result of it.”

The sisters exchanged confused looks to each other, before Tomie continued talking.

“Well, what I had in mind was what if I could give birth to a child, but not having them to grow up being exactly like me. I mean, as I said before, there’s probably thousands of us roaming around, and I thought the world could use a little more… variety. Of course, letting people cut up my body would just give birth to many other Tomies, but when you add someone’s sperm into the mix, then maybe I could get something different out of it.”

“And dad knows about all this?”

“Pretty much. He’s even willing to help me with my ‘experiment’, so to say, or maybe it’s just my charms doing the work.” She lets out a small giggle.

She went on to explain the conception of her precious babies, and the rather unusual way they got out of her womb.

“I was slightly nervous when I was expecting my first baby, and I thought the experiment had failed when I saw the baby’s head popping through my stomach, clawing her way out to escape to the outside world. Me and your dad were shook at first, it’s the reason why we decided not to go to the hospital and instead to deal with it by ourselves. It would’ve been hard to explain when things got… unconventional.”

Hard was an understatement to say the least, but she continued her talk after a brief pause.

“When I saw the baby at first glance, I thought that she resembled me too much, but it wasn’t until I took a proper look when I saw that there was a little bit of variation, like how your beauty mark is just under your lips rather than your left eye like mine. By the time I gave birth to a second one, I was already assured that the experiment succeeded, proven by the more obvious differences such as the ruby red hair and the absence of a mole. Though, she still came out not from where she was supposed to come out from, but again just like the one before her, the newborn popped her way through my stomach.”

The thought of a baby Ruby having her head burst out from their mother’s insides was somehow comical and unnerving at the same time.

“And it excites me seeing both of you growing up through the years. In time, you’ve grown up to be lovely women with distinct personalities, but still having about the same capabilities like me.”

“Wait, you knew even before this?”

“Of course, sweethearts. You’re my descendants after all. I had to burn all your cut nails and hairs just for good measure. And you both seem to have irresistible charms of your own. I’m just slightly jealous that you two look better in photographs than me.”

The sisters raised their eyebrows, while realising why their family often opts for a family painting instead of a family photo.

“Well, I’ve been following your school idol activities and I’m very impressed by the scale of your followers. For something that requires loads of exposure with cameras, you did a great job!”

The sisters realised that they never came wrong in any of the promotional materials for their idol group, not a single photo or video with them looking outright grotesque.

“You both even have your own distinct auras, Dia, you have this tough and authoritative vibe that makes people think twice before they mess with you, you’re the right fit for a student council president. And Ruby, you’re the most adorable little girl I’ve ever seen. I swear your cuteness could give people diabetes!” the mother continued.

They can’t tell if their mother was exaggerating at that part, or if she’s still serious, but either way, they were starting to get more creeped out by their true nature. There was a long period of silence before their mother stood up, leaving the room with her last words.

“Well, I understand this is too much to take in for you girls, so I’ll leave you two alone for a while. By the way Ruby, you’re going back to school tomorrow, and for Dia, you’ll have to wait until your arm grow back to how it was. And just a reminder, please don’t tell anybody outside this house about this, okay? See you later!”

She carefully slid the door shut as she left the room. Now, the sisters were trying their best to digest the lump of information they were bombarded with, and its consequences.

They were starting to doubt themselves too, what if their beauty was just a result of having her cursed gene running in their bodies? What if their fans were just attracted to their paranormal allure and not their music?

Ruby slowly approached Dia’s bed, enveloping the girl on it with a tight hug, tears slowly forming in her eyes.

“D-does this make us monsters?”

The elder sister kept on hugging her, even her eyes were wet with tears as she struggled to hug her little sister with just a single arm.

“I h-hope not.”

The redhead then caressed her sister’s still growing left limb, and her eyes were wide open when she realised what this meant.

“Your arm, t-the man took it away, didn’t he?”

It was then that Dia realised exactly what her little sister implied.

“Well, I guess this secret is going to be pretty hard to keep,” she sighed.

\----

Class had just been dismissed and there were no plans for any school idol activities that day, so after a brief shift as the school’s librarian, Hanamaru went back home, only this time alone. Ever since the first day of school, she always had Ruby to accompany her walk back home, but this day, she hadn’t got anything back from her best friend on why she was absent the whole day. She already sent her a text when she realised her buddy was missing, but it took her until her lonely walk that she finally got a reply. Ruby explained that she was feeling unwell the whole day, but she’ll get back to school tomorrow, but the same can’t be said for her sister. She was about to type out her question on what she meant by that, only to struggle at it.

Hanamaru was still getting used to her new smartphone that Mari bought for her so that she could join the Aqours group chat, but it was also bought mostly as a replacement to her old mobile phone, which still had buttons for keypads. She found it to be very sleek, futuristic even, but there were some time where she felt her old phone had some advantages, her new one felt like it doesn’t last long for a single charge, and it felt more fragile. But whatever, at least she got to connect herself to the information superhighway.

She finally got around to finishing her question, the sentences formed seemed prim and proper for mobile usage. There was a long wait for her reply though, her screen showing the 3 dots on the other side for quite a while before being replaced by her answer.

“She’s down with a bad case of flu.”

She didn’t expect Ruby to take that much time to type such simple phrases, but Hanamaru supposed that the redhead was just trying to find the right words to type.

Hanamaru continued walking until she was interrupted by a meowing just in front of her pathway uphill, a cute ginger cat standing in its place. She slowly made her way closer and stroked the cat gently. The constant purring captivated her ears, that has got to be the most blissful sound she had ever heard. The cat was just begging her to adopt it out of its sheer cuteness, its eyes pleading please at the girl who was still stroking it. Easily swayed by the cat, Hanamaru picked it up from the ground, continuously caressing its fur until they got home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, sunrise did kinda retcon mari's mom, so...


	4. Chapter 4

After a day of absence, Ruby returned to Uranohoshi, filling up yesterday’s void in her classroom. She sat at her usual place next to Hanamaru and Yoshiko, and they had a little chatter before the classes start. The duo shared Ruby’s concern when she started opening up about her sister’s illness, they wished her well and hoped that she would be better as soon as possible. Aqours was supposed to meet each other that day and having a missing member would certainly make the atmosphere a bit emptier. Besides, the school can’t afford to have its student council president to be away for a long time.

While everything may seem fine on the surface, it didn’t take long for Ruby’s friends to notice that the redhead seemed deep in thought during class, making the short brunette felt like she was sandwiched between two daydreamers the entire session.

In Ruby’s defence though, who wouldn’t when you had gone through a lot in a span of just days?

It wasn’t until lunchtime that Hanamaru and Yoshiko brought the matter up, concerned if there was something bothering their dear friend.

“You feeling okay, zura?”

Yeah, everything sure was fine.

Except that her body was sliced wide open two days ago.

Except that she saw her own sister fell unconscious in a bloody mess.

She was by no means should be able to go back to school that quick after the incident.

But here she is, eating her lunch like nothing happened. All the physical trauma gone, leaving only an emotional trauma currently messing with her mind.

Made worse when she found out her true nature.

Huge wounds don’t just heal overnight without any scars.

But hers did, because she’s a spawn of a monster.

A monster that everyone should stay away from.

“Y-yeah, I’m alright. Just worried about my sister, that’s it.”

The only thing Ruby could do was to just shrug it off and hope that it would be enough to deter her worried friends. They don’t need to go through the land of confusion she was in, it would be too much of a burden for them. And she wasn’t supposed to tell them either. Neither does she want to.

Her closest classmates however were not quite satisfied with the answer, but sensing the tense situation they were in, maybe she wasn’t ready to talk about it. They thought that they should give her some time because maybe eventually she’ll open up. And whatever it was, they will always be there for their timid friend. In the meantime, Yoshiko swiftly changed the topic of their conversation to lighten up the mood, at least that’s the best they could do for the redhead.

Once they were done, it’s time to meet up with the other students for their club meeting. They walked together down the corridor towards the clubroom, where the second-years and the third-years (bar Dia of course) were already waiting inside.

“Okay girls, let’s begin with our meeting!” The de facto leader of Aqours shouted to her fellow members, starting their idol activities for the day.

“As we all know, Dia is not here with us for the whole week, or maybe even longer, we haven’t gotten any clue on when she’ll be better. Sure, this is gonna screw up some of our plans, but that’s alright! We’ll keep on practicing our moves and be ready for the regionals, and make sure that she could catch up when she gets back.” Despite the circumstances, she managed to stay motivated and enthusiastic, for she’s not going to let any setback halt their progress.

“Ooh, and while we’re at it, let’s go cheer her up too! We should all come together and visit her this eve-”

“U-uhh, sorry but I’m afraid you can’t.”

The youngest of the Kurosawa sisters interrupted the grey-haired girl, the words uttered brought the whole room to a standstill.

“But why?” Riko asked.

“Mom said so. She said that err, Dia needs some lone time to heal and uhh, it’s contagious, yeah, that’s why. Even I couldn’t come to her room.”

Ruby’s answer felt hardly convincing, especially with the stuttering being sprinkled throughout her statement. But then, this is Ruby we’re talking about here, and she tends to get nervous under pressure.

So the girls gave her the benefit of the doubt, and if it’s better to leave Dia alone for the sake of not just her health but also theirs, then they don’t see any problem with that, just that it would mean they would have to wait longer before they could meet their dear friend in person again.

The redhead however knew that she was a terrible liar, but in this case, she had to do it anyway out of necessity. Hopefully, nobody will catch her out, and besides, it’s easier to tell a plausible lie than a ridiculous truth, right? Even if she told them the truth, they would surely laugh it off as something so silly that she had got to be joking harder than Mari could.

The girls then moved on back to their plans for the whole week, hoping that Dia would catch up by reading the group chat, and maybe Ruby could help explain it. Despite the absence of an equally important member, Aqours made their way to the rooftop, the usual spot for their practice session. It was odd trying to practice their choreography with only 8 people, they had done it once when Riko had to leave for Tokyo, but just like before, they did the best they could, while leaving a gap where Dia would be as a reference.

The girls ended their session when the sky got darker, the bright blue hue slowly turning into a tinge of orange. They all returned to their respective homes, hoping to catch a break after yet another tiring practice. They were still disappointed that they didn’t get to wish Dia well face to face, so they sent their wishes through their redheaded proxy.

\----

Kanan had just got home after a long day at school, but the athletic girl wasn’t completely exhausted yet to do the one thing she loves the most. As she got upstairs to her room, she quickly changed from her school uniform to her diving suit and made her way to the coastline just in front of her home. Her father runs a diving shop at Awashima Island, they usually get a lot of customers especially during the peak seasons. She also helped him whenever she could, in fact, she even took a prolonged break from school when her father was in a cast, making sure that the business remains open and operational.

As she inched closer towards the ocean, she made sure her diving equipment was intact, and dipped her foot to test the waters. Satisfied, she plunged her entire body into the deep blue sea, letting her senses be immersed in the vast depths of the sea, an entirely different world from the land up above. She moved around underwater, appreciating the little details the sea has to offer.

For Kanan, diving never felt old because whenever she went for a dive, she was sure to witness something she never saw before. After all, the aquatic realm is home to a diverse array of sea creatures like fishes, crustaceans, and a raven-haired teenage girl-

Wait.

Was she seeing this right?

She had to blink twice, maybe her blurry vision made her see things, but as she adjusted her goggles, it all became crystal clear to her.

She inched slightly closer to the figure, her curious mind trying to make out what, or seemingly, who it was. But as soon as her purple eyes met contact with the being, she was completely startled.

It was unmistakeable, her long black hair, her beauty mark, this is the exact facial features of her friend who she thought was resting at her home from her illness. But here she was, completely nude, but shockingly inhuman in shape. While her head and upper body was ordinary indeed, what baffled her the most was that her lower body was completely deformed into multiple limbs that she could only describe as bearing a resemblance to the roots of a tree. Yes, her fellow classmate, Dia, was down underwater with no protection whatsoever, clinging onto the ocean rocks like a tree clinging on to the soil.

Horrifyingly, she had never seen her this feral before, gobbling up the raw fish like she hadn’t eaten in days. This was so untypical of her, she was the epitome of grace and elegance, and now she’s devouring this innocent fish like a beast. Her mind told her to run away, but for some reason, Kanan was unable to look away from this display of monstrosity. She wasn’t even sure if this was real, it must’ve been some kind of a wicked nightmare. Could it be that she missed her so much that it manifested her way into her mind like this? No way, she thought, it had only been a couple of days since she last saw her, and they still kept in touch through the phone.

She knew that she had to swim away as soon as possible, but before she was able to do so, her purple eyes were locked into Dia’s eerily irisless eyes, who was mouthing something. It may have not been quite clear underwater, but the message sent was perfectly clear, and its meaning made the purple-haired girl shudder even more.

“I-I’m hungry, I need more, please…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boi


	5. Chapter 5

Another day, another practice session for Aqours. The school idols were rehearsing for their next performance after going through some physical exercises earlier, although the absence of a member made the formation looking slightly off.

Dia had been away as of late, the girls were told that it might take some time before she could safely return. However, they were not particularly concerned on how this would affect their preparations, for the black-haired girl was already given the relevant materials and instructions to get her going, and the girls knew that the trusted student council president has an impressive work ethic. All things considered, it shouldn’t be that much of a setback for the whole group.

In the meantime, practicing with someone missing is already tough, let alone when someone else’s head was somewhere in the clouds.

Kanan had always performed her best during practices, no doubt all those workouts she loved to do since she was younger paid off. The athletic girl is always miles ahead when it comes to fitness, compared to some of her fellow members who had only begun working out seriously when they started the group. Idol training can be quite demanding, it’s no wonder the other girls get tired easily unlike her. But months has passed since their first training together, and the purple-haired girl can see that their level of fitness had jumped by leaps and bounds, appropriate for a school idol group striving for the best.

Today though, it was noticeable how the athletic girl seems to lose focus throughout the whole session. Her thoughts were constantly distracted by what had transpired the day before, but most importantly, what she had done as a result of it.

She was still in disbelief in how she actually did it, let alone even thinking about it. The thoughts of murdering a man would never cross into her mind, even if it was done indirectly. Sure, she only knocked him out, but she knew sending his unconscious body down underwater to feed her friend would spell an imminent death for the innocent man.

Her friend.

Her mind raced back to the aquatic encounter.

Dia made her do it.

No, wait, was she even sure that was Dia?

Sure, the woman in question has her looks, but why was she underwater in the first place?

And then Kanan thought back on her appearance.

The monstrous figure hogging up the undersea rocks, ghostly eyes staring back at her. The image very much still haunts her to this day, never in her life would she thought she would come across… that.

The pure horror she felt, she remembered how if not for her quick reflexes, she would be the one being consumed instead. She remembered how hungry the creature was, her mouth seemingly salivating even underwater. That and those words she made out from her mouth was clear proof that seafood was no longer enough. She managed to swim away just before her long arms got a grip on her body, realising that her friend would do anything just to satiate her hunger, even cannibalism.

At this rate, she was pumping out questions faster than she could have answers, if there was any. But even then, she can’t shake off that guilty feeling. She knew what she had to do back then, and besides, she swore that she was under her thrall, at that moment it felt like she would do anything for the raven-haired girl. While that is true to a certain extent, murder would’ve obviously crossed the line.

Her thoughts intermittently went back to the fateful night, how she knocked out the young man, he must’ve been at least somewhere in his late twenties. The poor guy was standing at the edge of the docks when she got out of the sea, the sky already getting dark as the sun begins to set deeper. The man looked forlorn, eyebags surrounding his lifeless eyes, his body language giving out just the information Kanan needed. A rational mind would attempt to talk him out of it, but her state of mind at that moment was nowhere near rational. She silently made her way behind him, hoping the faint creaking sound of the planks wouldn’t get her noticed.

Bang!

She elbowed his head with enough force to send him straight into the ocean unconscious. Still in her wetsuit, Kanan dove towards the body, carrying him over to the depths of the sea to introduce him to her friend. She offered the poor soul to Dia, who gladly clutched it with a chilling smile.

As soon as Dia got her hands on him, she instantly took a humongous bite off his body, his red blood starting to seep through the salty seawater. Munch after munch, Kanan could see that the body was slowly being reduced to bits and pieces, devoured by the hungry girl. The purple-eyed girl, completely sickened by the savagery displayed by what she thought was her friend, swam away as far as possible, trying to forget that any of this ever happened.

“PIGII!”

Her mind was brought back to reality when she accidentally bumped into something, quickly realising what she had bumped into. She was so distracted by her thoughts that her slightly careless movement culminated into a collision between her strong body and the poor, frail body, no doubt it belongs to none other than the younger sister of the girl who had been haunting her thoughts. Ruby had no chance coming against Kanan’s muscular stature, the second they collided, she fell down in a quick swoop, skidding onto the hard concrete of the rooftop.

Kanan profusely apologised over the accident, it was unbecoming of her to be so distracted during practice that she inadvertently injured someone. You quickly rushed to the first aid kit, they always had one prepared in case one of them was injured, it had happened a couple of times before. But this time, a simple band-aid wasn’t enough to stop the wounds. Ruby’s right arm was covered with blood, she definitely used it to shield her face from making contact with the surface.

As the others tended to the redhead’s injury, Chika asked Yoshiko about the progress of their Halloween PV. The girls usually edit the clips together, but when it comes to the finishing touches such as effects, the task is usually delegated to the first-year, who is arguably the proficient one in using the video editing software, a skill she obtained from her experience as a streamer.

“So, how’s the editing going?”

“Oh, it’s basically done already, I’ll send it to you later with my pendrive.”

The magenta-eyed answered calmly, hiding the fact that she had slept in very late the night before trying to finish it up. After all, she had an unhealthy habit of staying up until the wee hours, mostly due to a lot of reasons; procrastination, video games, her streams, and mostly the fact that she always prided herself as a creature of the darkness.

But last night was something else she thought. When she finally got around with the editing, she thought that her energy drink must’ve been spiked or something. While skimming through one of the clips, she almost fell off her gaming chair from what she saw on her screen.

It happened again.

She had to regain her composure for a little while, before dragging the cursor back to the cursed frame to analyse it.

There it is.

When the Kurosawa sisters moved away from the camera, her keen eyes saw something that could easily pass as a blur when the whole clip is played in normal speed. But paused at this frame, she had come across the same view from the sleepover. Both of their heads had another head each attached to their sides like a tumour, only these ones were devoid of any humanity, it was like looking at a monstrous version of the two girls.

“Kukuku, you two really are little demons…”

Yoshiko slowly broke into a laughter, the idea that the sisters could be some kind of a demonic creature playfully made its way into her mind. The so-called fallen angel was so tempted to just leave the clip as it is, but she knew that’s not in the right interest of the group. Imagine if someone watching the PV paused at that one frame, it might put a dent on the idol group’s image.

Or maybe it could boost them.

But then she thought back on when Aqours decided to adopt her gothic aesthetic, suffice to say, the impact didn’t last long.

So instead, she had to cut that part away from the final product, and get the whole project done and ready for publishing. She would need to wait for it to be reviewed by the other members, but in the meantime, maybe she could make some time to do one more thing.

Stretching her fingers, she opened up a new tab on her browser to visit one of the sites she usually frequent, a forum where all sorts of paranormal and supernatural topics were discussed among enthusiasts like her. She indulged herself into a mini-research, and when she finally went to bed, she made sure to remind herself to take pictures of Ruby the next day.

Lots and lots of pictures.

That’s why Yoshiko almost stumbled when Chika neared the freshman, she was trying to hide her smartphone, hoping not to raise any suspicion. Even then, her camera roll was already full of her classmate’s photos, most of which were taken discreetly. Once she was left alone, she pulled out her phone, and skimmed through all the pictures she had.

When the girls finished wrapping up Ruby’s wounded arm, Chika called the others for a short debrief before dismissing the session early, all things considered. Today’s practice session had been chaotic, but she hoped that it’ll get better the next day. After all, the regionals were already looming, and so was the deadline to get enough prospective students.

\----

It was a Sunday night, and Kanan was already on her bed, her bedroom dimly lit by the moonlight. She was scrolling through her social media feed on her phone for a little while before diving into a good night’s sleep. Earlier, she, and the rest of Aqours, received a message from Dia in their group chat, one that they were very glad to receive. The black-haired girl will return to school the next day, meaning that things would soon be back to the way it was.

As her eyelids start to close off, her ears picked up something distracting. Her mind was already too sleepy for this, but the noises won’t go away soon. If anything, they got louder, more desperate even. But what confused her was the source of the noise. It would be logical if she heard a knocking from the door, but from the windows? Her room is upstairs, how could anyone even reach the windows?

She mustered up all her energy to get up, groggily making her way to the source.

Oh.

Not again.

Outside those very windows stood a beautiful teenage girl, her long black hair flowing freely behind her, and emerald green eyes staring back intently at Kanan. Her friend was hanging on from the nearby tree, with no clothes even. How did she even climb that in the first place?

Dia kept on knocking until the purple-eyed girl opened the windows, letting the cold night air inside her room. Without further ado, Kanan carefully grabbed Dia inside, before rushing to find some clothes for her and an extra futon so her friend could sleep in comfortably.

“What are you doing here?”

Kanan had grew curious over why her friend was on the other side of the sea, in the middle of the night, nonetheless.

But then, she was reminded of the contorted Dia she saw underwater a couple days before, could there be a link to all this?

The room was dead quiet, no answers came out of the green-eyed girl as she instead laid herself on the futon and instantly closed her eyes. Kanan was equally tired, maybe she really was seeing things, and besides, she thought it would be better to ask her the next morning when they would be fresher for the day. After all, she would need to explain to her parents on why the student council president was in her room unannounced. But for now, she’ll just close her eyes and hope things will go smoothly the next day.

And hopefully she’ll get to wake up from this bizarre nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yohane is an epic gamer and probably got her wings from drinking too much red bull


	6. Chapter 6

“Wake up, Dia.”

Ruby gently shook her sister’s body, her soft voice indicating that it’s time to get up from bed. The morning sunlight was already seeping through the windows as Dia slowly opened her green eyes, greeted by another pair of eyes bearing the same shade as hers.

Dia had a week-long leave from school, but that doesn’t mean it’s a holiday for her. Despite her absence, the student council president worked hard to catch up on what she missed, be it academic or extracurricular. In the meantime, she was also grateful to be surrounded by supportive people, she managed to get in touch with the teachers about her classes, the student council did their job responsibly despite its president’s absence, and of course, Aqours.

The very idol group she tried to stop at first became a welcoming place for her, she owed them a lot for helping her get through her troubling past, reconciling with her childhood friends, and also letting her to finally live up to her dreams of being a school idol which she had suppressed because of her initial failure.

The girls had sent her photos and videos of training material, from a rough draft of their formation down to a full video of the accompanying choreography. The black-haired girl even took the time to try out the moves in her room, doing her part to prepare herself for the regionals. Uranohoshi was under immense pressure of consolidation, unless if they managed to get 100 prospective students by the end of the year.

Anyways, time waits for nobody, so the older sister quickly got out from her bed and prepared herself for the day. When she brushed her hair in front of the mirror, she glanced over to her left arm, reminding her of what forced her to take a break from school.

She could still recall it clearly, her heart pulsing rapidly as her sisterly instincts went into action when she saw her dear Ruby terribly hurt from the attack. But not long after, her vision went pitch black.

She did her best to save her sister, but at the cost of her own life. It was a worthy sacrifice, she thought, but at the same time, she couldn’t imagine the pain everyone around her would go through; her family, her friends; they would think that it’s too early for her to go to the other side.

But alas, she accepted her fate. No matter how hard they mourn for her, weep for her, she knew that nothing they did could ever bring her back to life. She wanted to tell them so bad to not worry so much about her and to instead focus on their own lives, their own futures, because hopefully one day, they’ll meet each other in the afterlife.

She could feel it, the void occupying her sight slowly making its way for the inevitable light, a blinding glimpse of where she would spend her eternity in peace. She braced for it, black steadily turning into white, a new world awaits, and she was ready to leave her former world for good. The light was getting brighter, it was only a matter of time before her vision switches into something blissful and heavenly.

Moments later, Dia could make out something from the blinding white glow, and her vision slowly adjusted to her new surroundings. She slowly blinked her eyes open, with every blink bringing extra details. She could observe the wooden texture of the walls, the intricate patterns on the roofing, and the bed she was on felt quite comfortable.

Wait, isn’t this just her room?

Dia jerked up instantaneously, much to the shock of her mother and her sister, who seemingly had been there for quite a while.

But wasn’t she supposed to be dead?

Is the afterlife just a mirror of her old world?

And why was Ruby there too?

Oh no, that means her poor sister had succumbed to her injuries, right?

But what about her mother?

She looked back at the observant faces, and she noticed that her precious gemstone looked like she could burst into shrieks out of fear. But why?

And what follows would forever change the way she looked at herself.

At first, she didn’t know what to make of the fact. It was so unprecedented, she and Ruby had a hard time trying to process it all, and what they truly meant. That life doesn’t work the same way for the sisters. Instead of a simple finite line, all they have is a never-ending line which could potentially branch off into multiple lines.

Simply put, unkillable.

Resting in peace was forever out of the question, being cursed with an existence attached to this plane of existence for eternity. Forever young, but that meant they would outlive everyone they knew.

It felt like a fate worse than death.

And then there’s this whole regeneration thing, which they had to admit, is a neat thing to have despite the circumstances. After all, Dia’s missing arm took only four days to regrow back to its normal state.

Four days!

Even the most advanced of medical sciences couldn’t dream of replicating such feat, let alone in this remarkably short span of time. And her arm worked just fine as it was before, even nailing the koto as always.

As amazing as it is, she would still need to wait for a while before her limb grew back. While waiting, she would have to constantly face the sight of raw meat oozing from her body, which honestly made her want to throw up so bad. To see a lump of flesh and skin, growing under her own eyes, it can be quite a disgusting sight, and it’s not like she could avoid it until the process is done. At least she managed to not puke at the sight of it, a skill she needed in case things like this happen again.

Hopefully, she would never have to go through all that ever again.

She finished off her brushing, clipped her two locks on each side, before heading downstairs for breakfast. They had a fulfilling meal together with the family, before the sisters made their way to the front door, bidding their goodbyes while putting on their shoes. The sisters then started their habitual walk to Uranohoshi, something they hadn’t been able to do together for the past week.

\----

“Wake up, Dia.”

Kanan gently shook her friend’s body, her soft voice indicating that it’s time to get up from bed. The morning sunlight was already seeping through the windows as Dia slowly opened her green eyes, greeted by another pair of eyes bearing a purplish shade.

Kanan had let her classmate in after a rather odd occurrence the night before, and her mind was still full of questions over the strange incidents she encountered the past week.

Nevertheless, she rummaged through her closet to see if she has some spare uniforms for Dia, luckily, they were both in the same year so the tie colours shouldn’t be much of a problem. She gently placed the uniforms on a bedside table once she found it and noticed that the green-eyed girl was already sitting on her futon.

“Thank you very much.”

Dia finally opened her mouth since yesterday, a tone of immense gratitude was shimmering from her voice, but somehow, Kanan sensed that there was a little pang of guilt too?

“So, what brought you here?”

Now it’s Kanan’s turn to speak, her curious mind hoping for a reasonable explanation to all this.

If her memory wasn’t fooling her, she invited Dia in after seeing her hanging on a tree outside at midnight, and that was not even the most bizzare event involving the student council president lately.

She was reminded of her dive few days back, and almost shuddered when the image of a beautiful monster and its grotesque form made its way into her mind again.

She just couldn’t believe that said beautiful monster may or may not be one of her closest friends.

In the meantime, the green-eyed girl took some time to compose herself, before finally answering the question.

“I was stranded here, remember? I missed the last ferry, and if it wasn’t for you, I would’ve spent the whole night at the jetty. So, thank you very much for letting me stay at your house.”

What?

Kanan does not remember any of those details mentioned.

But it didn’t take long for her observant eyes to figure out why.

“Just be honest with me, please.”

Dia had been scratching her beauty mark unconsciously, and that’s already enough information for the athletic girl to tell that her friend may have lied.

“What do you mean?”

“Dia, explain to me why you were on that tree last night.”

“Huh? You must’ve been seeing things!”

This time, the mole below her lip was left untouched.

Maybe she wasn’t lying after all.

Some say that human memories can get unreliable, well, Kanan’s might’ve gone off the charts lately.

After all, the more she thought about it, the more surreal it gets. There’s no way any of that could happen in real life, right? Whatever it was, she really needed to put these hallucinations behind her.

When the two girls were ready to start their day, they went downstairs to get some breakfast before leaving for the mainland-bound ferry.

It was then that Kanan realised her parents might not be aware that Dia had been sleeping in the house last night, and now she scrambled to find the right words to explain it. But with her memories going haywire, confusing reality and fiction, maybe the girl in question herself can help her out this time around.

“Oh, hey Dia, didn’t knew you spent the whole night here.”

When they met at the dining table, Kanan’s father was noticeably surprised at the raven-haired girl unexpected presence, seeing how he wasn’t notified in advance.

Dia told him of how she came here to get some fresh air from the natural forest park at the heart of the island, before getting stranded because she missed the last ferry back home. At the same time, she apologised to his daughter that she wasn’t notified of this, Dia doesn’t want to ruin the surprise and would rather meet up with the entirety of Aqours when she comes back to school. Besides, she thought it was a good idea to get outside after being cooped up at home the entire week, it could help her readjust to her normal routine.

Despite all that, the purple-eyed girl still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss, that what was being told was not quite the truth, and yet her friend managed to blurt all that out confidently, and without scratching her mole too.

Had Dia gotten better at lying, or does Kanan need to get her head checked?

Either way, maybe it’s better for her to just roll with it, so without any objections, they had some breakfast together, before heading off to the jetty where they would later catch a ferry to Uchiura.

\----

The Kurosawa sisters were walking in a steady pace along the streets of Uchiura, heading to school while exchanging some chatters with each other. Their morning walk usually consists of small talks that may range from a variety of topics, from their school plans to what’s trending in the school idol sphere, anything could be discussed to pass the time.

During their walk, Dia noticed that Ruby’s right arm was covered in gauze cloth with a patch of what seems to be faded blood, curiously wondering why her little sister even needed it.

“Excuse me Ruby, but may I ask what’s up with your right arm?”

The redhead was caught by surprise from the question and realised she may have forgotten to tell her sister something.

“Oh this? I kinda injured myself during practice one day…”

Dia’s calm demeanour quickly turned into shock.

“You what? Oh, my poor Ruby, how come I haven’t known about this?”

“Sorry onee-chan! I, uhh, forgot to tell you about it. I mean, it’s already gone by the time I’m home.”

Ruby apologetically answered, before proceeding to slightly unwrap the bandage, showing her sister her bare arm.

As expected, instead of clotting as the gauze’s appearance might suggest, Dia’s eyes were met with her sister’s smooth skin, clear of anything that could ever imply her arm was ever wounded.

“I had to keep on wearing this for a while anyways, don’t want them to suspect someth-”

“Ruby-chan, Dia-san, good morning!”

Just across the street, a familiar bookworm was ready to cross her path towards the sisters, joining them on their way to Uranohoshi.

The sisters’ morning commute to school would be incomplete without Hanamaru, the three girls had been walking together since both Ruby and Hanamaru started their first day in high school, and it has since become a habit. The brunette would always come across the Kurosawas at this very junction, where a small road uphill would lead to a temple where Hanamaru lives.

Meanwhile, the redhead hastily wrapped her arm back with the bandage, but it was too late as the short girl took note of it.

“Ruby, you know you shouldn’t open the bandage yet, zura!”

“I-I know, I just wanted to take a look.” Ruby stammered.

The curious girl then inquired her, “Well then, can I see it?”

“No, i-it’s alright. There’s still some bleeding, but it should be fine, don’t worry.”

Despite the shaky start to their encounter, the trio then walked their way up to school, where they would then disperse into different classes according to their years. As they got closer, more students were walking along the uphill road. They greeted each other cheerily, some were glad to see their student council president still going on strong after a week of absence.

The trio then split their ways when they got inside the building, with Dia having to go upstairs for her classes while the first-years had theirs on the ground floor.

After exchanging some last words and some reminder of their school idol activities, the well-mannered girl climbed the stairs, made her way to the classroom, and greeted everyone who was already lounging there. She then took a seat at her usual spot, where she would then wait for her closest friends to sit next to her. After all, there’s still some time left before the classes start, and the green-eyed girl reckoned that her friends were probably still on the ferry, taking them from Awashima to the mainland.

\----

The cool morning breeze of the ocean accompanied Kanan and Mari’s usual commute to school, the short ferry ride providing a transport link for the islanders to get to the mainland, and vice-versa. The morning peak hours meant the vessel would be filled with slightly more people, but the interiors are spacious enough for everyone to have their own spot.

Today, the ferry operator would have an extra one-way ticket holder amongst the seasonal ones, the daughter of a well-known fishery family was sitting in between her two friends. It’s not always that Dia ended up on the other side of the ocean when the sun rose from the east, so it came as a surprise for the blonde girl when she saw her walking with Kanan towards the jetty.

Mari herself was curious on why Dia was here in the first place, to which she was met with the same answer being told to Kanan and her father, about how she was stranded for the whole night.

Either way, the added presence of the green-eyed girl made their commute livelier, they now had more things to talk about, and it has been quite a while since they last went to school together like this.

“You know, you could’ve just come to my place. I would’ve booked a deluxe suite just for you!”

Dia was not expecting such a generous offer from her rich friend, but knowing her, she should’ve expected it anyways.

“Uhh, thanks for the offer but it’s alright. It was only just for a night anyways.”

“Well, someone like you deserve a better place to stay in for the night, y’know.”

Kanan’s face starting to turn a little bit red.

“What are you trying to say here?”

“It’s joke!”

The three girls laughed together, Kanan included. The half-Japanese’s jokes might seem aggressive to some, but to her childhood friends, they had grown accustomed to it, having dealt with it since they first met each other.

After all, the blonde girl’s cheery personality brought a certain shine to their lives, her joking demeanour is a refreshing view when compared to her more serious peers, and that had helped cheer them up too.

Once the ferry had docked on to the mainland, the third-years walked uphill together, where their classes would soon begin in several minutes. They continued chatting along the way, up until the school gates where they would see some students still hanging around on the courtyard. The trio greeted some of their fellow students, though they failed to notice how a few of them had their faces coloured with confusion, and the eventual whispers among them.

Despite that, they all climbed the stairs up to the highest floor, where their classroom awaits, as well as their classmates. Dia would’ve preferred popping in to the first-year classroom first to at least see her sister, but that can wait until recess as they only have a few minutes left before the bell rings.

The trio rushed along the corridor up until the front door, only to be met with a shocked look from everyone in the room, including themselves.

The students froze and the room went completely silent, their ears are now left with only silence.

It felt like the entire classroom was seeing double, and horrifyingly, they were far from mistaken.

For there was virtually zero difference between the Dia already sitting at her spot, and the Dia that had just arrived with her friends.

There was no way that any of them could tell them apart from each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is getting out of hand, now there are two of them!  
>  ~~not that i mind~~


	7. Chapter 7

“Alright girls, it’s time for a round of-”

“Just cut to the chase, Mari.”

This morning saw a peculiar situation happening just before the classes start, where apparently there were what seems to be two Dias, and they were both engaged in a verbal fight on which is the real one. Due to the sheer similarity between the two, nobody was able to figure out who was speaking out the truth, making the situation more distressful. It was up to the point where the inbound teacher had to intervene and asked Dia’s two closest friends to come up with a solution to all this.

And that is how Mari and Kanan ended up in their clubroom with the two Dias in front of them, trying to figure out which is the real one. They even had to pull Ruby out from her classes (director’s orders they say) to join the panel of judges that would soon pester the two lookalikes with questions to single out the impostor from the real.

After all, the student council president can be quite secretive about her personal life, and it is impossible for a random stranger to have all that private knowledge from any public media, be it magazines or the internet. There has got to be a point where the question gets too personal that only the true individual could answer it. Looks may deceive, but memories won’t, they thought.

“Well then, let’s START!”

The blonde girl kicked off the quiz session with such immense energy, paving the way for the intensive questioning that was about to be unleashed. The questions asked were extremely personal, with each passing question more intimate than before.

Despite the onslaught of such personal questions, the individuals on the opposing side of the table were still standing strong, somehow answering all the questions correctly in perfect unison.

With the same voice. Same mannerism.

An impossibly perfect imitation.

Almost half an hour has passed, and somehow, the juries could not come to a conclusion just yet. They thought it would only take them just a few questions before the impostor would break, but no. The two lookalikes were quizzed plenty of times, even the embarrassing questions that made some of the faces turn red, and yet, they both got them all right.

This makes zero sense, they thought.

“Argh, I can’t take it anymore!”

Mari was violently shaking her head, it felt like her brain could burst into a million shiny particles. Meanwhile, Kanan had just lazily slumped her head onto the table, already tired from all the inquiring.

So, it was surprising to see Ruby being the level-headed one among the judges, after all, she’s the closest to the girl in question, shouldn’t she be the most concerned?

Instead, all the redhead did was just sigh when she saw the others confused and visibly exhausted.

“It’s no use...”

The older girls sitting beside her became surprised, as the redhead slowly unwrapped her bandage from her right arm.

“Ruby, what are you doing?”

The first-year remained silent despite Kanan’s worries, as she continued unsheathing her injured arm from the gauze cloth. The girl kept unrolling the cloth all the way until her bare arm was for all to see, while placing the bandage on the side of the table.

Mari and Kanan were astonished.

Their eyes were wide open, their mouths went gaping, what they were witnessing was something they never thought was possible.

Gone were the bloodied wounds from the training accident last week, replaced with the smooth, porcelain skin that covered her right arm.

If anything, they should be happy that their fellow group member had fully healed herself, but given the quick timeframe, all it did was adding further confusion to the already puzzled duo.

“Wh-where did your wounds go?”

Mari struggled to maintain her composure when she asked Ruby, how can a wound that big disappear in a matter of days, anyways? She still remembers the loud thud, the cries of pain, how Aqours rushed to the poor girl’s side, trying to cover up the gash along her arm to prevent further blood loss. She even remembers how the redhead writhed in pain when they applied some antiseptic. And now, it’s all gone. Not a single blemish left, not even a scar!

What is even going on right now?

Ruby had to take a moment to choose her words, to consider if spilling the beans were worth it. When it boils down to this current situation, honestly, there really was no way to continue the charade. A promise is a promise, but some are just impossible to keep. If not today, someone else might figure it out, sooner or later.

She took a quick glance at her sister, no, sisters; there was no denying that both were one and the same, and she knew very well how it all came up to be like this. Still, seeing two of the exact same person at the same time can make for a rather unsettling experience, especially for the other girls inside the clubroom.

“Remember the sleepover at Chika’s place?”

The redhead finally mustered up all her confidence, hoping she doesn’t stutter trying to explain the sisters’ complex situation.

“Remember who we talked about during the whole night?”

Both Mari and Kanan slowly nodded, of course they remembered, it was an extremely fun occasion they had together with the rest of Aqours! The frights, the spooks, the look on each other’s face under the dim shine of the torchlight, it was an unforgettable experience for the idol group.

But then, realisation hit them like a brick. They recalled the main story of the night, and the jokingly outlandish theory that follows. And with what their eyes were currently seeing…

No way.

“T-Tomie…” they whispered.

Now it’s the redhead’s turn to nod.

“Well, you see…”

Ruby started to explain to her seniors how it all started from the day after the sleepover, when she forgot about her knitting kit and had to walk back to Chika’s family inn with her sister to retrieve it. She told them of the unfortunate fate they faced during their walk back home, the long cut on her back, the horrific mutilation of her sister that she witnessed with her own innocent eyes, it still hurts for her to even think about it.

Then, the redhead told them about their miraculous recovery, something that even she herself had a hard time believing. How her skin patched itself up overnight, how Dia’s missing limb started to regrow itself slowly, and of course, their mother’s true identity.

The key explanation behind all these bizarre occurrences.

“N-No way!” shouted Mari in her accented English.

“Yeah, we’re daughters of Tomie, it sounds crazy, I know.”

The seniors would’ve never suspected that such a vile and cruel being could have even gave birth to two such precious and kind women, you know, the kind that doesn’t even dare to kill a small insect.

And to think of such dangerous potential the sisters have, thank god their personalities were unlike Tomie’s, things would’ve gone terribly worse if not.

For Kanan, she could finally piece out the puzzle behind everything that had happened lately, the explanation she needed after experiencing such borderline traumatic situations.

“So, the thing I saw underwater, that was y-you?”

The two raven heads nodded simultaneously.

“I’m really sorry that I put you up through all that,”

“I had no control over my instincts at the time, all I had in mind was to grow back to normal.”

Argh, why does both have to respond! Kanan’s mind was already tired from all this.

“Okay then, who was it?”

The identical duo said nothing except hastily pointing their fingers at each other, with a funny look that only made the athletic girl gritted her teeth further in frustration.

Meanwhile, the girls noticed that the blonde girl hadn’t spoken a word in quite a while, her mind seemingly lingering inside her thoughts for too long.

But not long after, there shined the shiniest shiny light bulb that had ever shined in the history of shine, shining just above the shiny girl’s head.

“What if we cut up the sisters into a million pieces? That way we can save the school in no time!”

Eh.

The rest of the clubroom just stared at the blonde with an indifferent look.

But that doesn’t stop Mari’s mind from imagining a scene where the entire school was filled to the brim with a sea of red and black, all the identical copies of the sisters walking along the busy hallways-

“BUU BUU DESU WA!”

-only to be swiftly cut off by the stereo buzzing from the two Dias.

“I will absolutely not allow you to proceed with that plan! Not even once!”

The angry girl, no, girls (no wonder the shouts felt amplified), were visibly irritated from such a ridiculous idea from who was technically her higher-up; Dia sometimes wonder about the credibility of Mari holding an important office.

“Y’know, you might as well solve the national population slump with that.” Kanan sarcastically quipped.

Meanwhile, a certain scaredy redhead was already shaking vigorously, the others could even sense the vibrations coming from her chair.

“Mari, y-you’re n-not gonna slice us into p-pieces, are y-you?”

Four green eyes were staring menacingly into the director’s eyes, scowling at the rather mistimed and almost distasteful joke of hers, considering the gravity of the situation.

“N-no, no I won’t! It’s joke, ehehe!” Mari nervously laughed it off as she scratched her head.

Regardless, the two Dias quickly rushed to their younger sister, comforting her from both sides with some sisterly gestures and hugs. It helped lessening the redhead’s worries, who was grateful that she had a caring sister; and two really is better than one.

“Well, now with that settled, can we just agree that you’re both the real Dia?”

Kanan unfortunately had to stop the heartwarming moment, as they need to get back on track to their main objective, which was derailed anyways from the reality of the situation.

“Fine.” The lookalikes grumpily mouthed, but hey, it’s better than having this quarrel go on forever.

“Okay, now how are we gonna explain this to the others?”

The room fell silent when Mari pointed out the elephant in the room, how will they explain this bizarre situation anyways? It’s not like they could just go back to the classroom with both the Dias in hand and tell them, “They’re both the real Dia because she was split into two. Oh, and did we mention that she’s literally Tomie’s daughter?”

That just wouldn’t go down well at all. And this was already a confusing matter for them, if anything, outright telling everyone the truth would make matters worse. Word will spread, and they’d be famous for the wrong things. Worse, the sisters might end up being ostracised even if they did nothing wrong, just because they came out of a monster’s womb.

“I think it’s better if we keep this secret between us. Or at least between the rest of Aqours too.”

The redhead made sense, the consequences would probably be too much for them to bear and it’s better to only let this information made known within a small, controllable sphere of close friends. 

“So, how are we gonna deal with this?”

This time, Kanan asked the rest how to start with their cover-up plan, because bringing them both back to class was definitely not an option.

“Easy!”

Mari started to point her index finger towards one of the lookalikes, before oscillating it like a pendulum.

“Eenie, meenie, miney… moe!”

The blonde quickly grabbed her target’s arm, rushing outside the clubroom, leaving the rest still inside motionless.

“Mari, wait!”

Kanan chased for the director, who left with a final request to the first-year.

“Ruby, bring the other Dia to the student council room!”

“Uhh, okay, miss director! Ganbaruby!”

\----

“So, they’re both Dia-san?”

The seniors simply nodded to Chika’s question. Aqours was called for an extraordinary meeting as soon as classes ended, so as to explain the important matter that they currently have in their hands.

“And there might be more if we’re not careful!” Mari said,

“Let’s just hope it won’t ever come to that,” only to be interjected by Kanan.

The rest of the group members were briefed about the strange situation they were dealing with. Who would’ve thought that urban legends were real, and two of its spin-offs went under their noses? It was a surreal feeling to say the least, to find out that two of your acquaintances were never human, technically speaking. The truth can be a really wild thing sometimes.

Thankfully, the girls were not quick to judge. If the others knew the truth about the Kurosawa sisters, how they were a spawn of a malevolent monster, they would probably avoid them like a plague, fearing for their lives, or in this case, their sanity. But the sisters’ friends understood that their mother’s acts do not represent their values at all, they knew that both Dia and Ruby are good at heart, they mean no harm at all. It’s just unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on how you look at it) that they came to be as someone blood-related to such an evil being, even inheriting her capabilities in the process.

But now, let’s address the things they could observe first. What to do with the two Dias.

The girls went on a long discussion on how to deal with it. They need to keep in mind that all the knowledge they were given just now was meant to be a secret among them, so they need to find a way to conserve it without raising any suspicion from the people outside this group.

Riko suggested, after a lengthy deliberation, to completely burn one of her bodies. The second-year hoped that she hadn’t offended anybody, she thought it’d be easier to keep up with the charade if they just keep it at one body each. Of course, that meant burning it until the ashes completely carbonised, and nobody in the room had the strong stomach to burn their dear friend alive, even if they were duplicates. They were after all, one and the same, so the pain would be unbearable regardless.

With that proposal out of the window, You suggested a shift-based schedule instead. The two lookalikes would have possessed the same memories and the same brain, so it wouldn’t make any difference if they switch between the two. If they still can’t differentiate between them, everyone else would have no chance. The plan was to have them be separated from each other, avoiding any possibility of being in direct contact. The grey-haired girl was reminded by the sisters that they promised their mother to keep this secret only within themselves, so having a Dia stationed permanently at her home would’ve raised her eyebrows.

Instead, she suggested that one of them would stay inside the student council room, with the other going about her life as usual. This doesn’t mean that the roles were fixed to each of the doppelgangers, they were free to change places, they were the same individual after all, and it’s not like they could tell if they switched anyways.

The girls unanimously agreed with the proposal after some discussion, thinking that it was the best they could come up so far. They just hoped that despite having extra things to take care of, they could still focus on their idol activities, and especially for the tournament. Remember, they still need to have more student applications, and hopefully this wouldn’t distract them.

After making the satisfactory decision, the group called off the meeting for the day and went back to their respective homes.

\----

“Hey Yoshiko, you wanna hang out at my place for a little while?”

The two first-years walked back home together, where the brunette would accompany her friend from kindergarten until the nearest bus stop. Though this time, she had something else under her sleeves.

“It’s Yohane! And what business do you have interfering a fallen angel’s plan?”

“I have something rather, uhh, strange to show you. Thought you might take an interest, zura.”

She had come across a bizarre phenomenon for the past few days, but she never really told anyone, for fear that she wouldn’t be taken seriously. But with what they had seen just hours before, maybe it really wasn’t as far-fetched as she thought it’d be. The bookworm somehow had a tingling feeling that there might be a link between the two.

But why tell Yoshiko first? Well, isn’t it already obvious! Other than the fact that they are close friends, the magenta-eyed girl herself claims to be a fallen angel, nothing could out-weird her she supposed.

Though she slightly smirked when she recalled Yoshiko’s shocked look seeing both Dias in the same room.

“Fine. Let me just check the bus schedule first.”

Swayed by the brunette’s invitation, Yoshiko decided to tag her along all the way until her home.

It was a long walk, but not as long as walking to Numazu from Uchiura, which Yoshiko had done a few times after missing the last bus thanks to her abysmal luck. Or that time when she forgot her bus pass. Or when she forgot to signal the driver because she was too busy with her phone at the bus stop. The list was endless.

The two girls finally reached a quaint-looking temple, surrounded by the lush greenery of the woods around them, it was a completely opposite environment than that of Yoshiko’s, smack in the middle of town, surrounded by concrete.

They greeted the caretaker of this Buddhist temple, Hanamaru’s grandmother, before returning to their main purpose.

“So, what is it that you wanted to show me?”

Hanamaru only gestured to follow her, until they reach a wooden shack not too far from the backyard.

The bookworm slowly opened the door, lighting up the interiors with external lights.

What follows made Yoshiko rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

Standing there inside the room was a red cat so big, she could have easily mistaken it for a German Shepherd due its immensely large stature for a cat. What more was the unnatural shade of red, a shade that reminds them of a certain someone from school. The same applies to the pair of green eyes, somehow half-human and half-feline in appearance.

“Isn’t it amazing? I found her on the way home last week and look at her now, all grown up! And I don’t think she’s gonna stop growing any time soon, zura.”

Amazing was an understatement, and marvellous doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Whatever breed this is, it has got to be the most beautiful creature the fallen angel had ever gleamed her eyes on.

Its luscious fur, its cute visage.

Its seductive purring.

She was so tempted to stroke it, or at least to touch it, she thought that a single touch of this heavenly creature could send her back high up in the clouds.

But this magnificent creature has no business being cooped up inside this shabby room.

It doesn’t deserve to live in a place like this.

“Say, Zuramaru, why did you leave this cat here?”

“Oh, uhh, I wanted to keep her in the house, but grandma said she could sense a demonic aura coming from the cat. But look at her, zura! How can something like her ever be evil?”

Yoshiko glanced back at the cat. How could she? How come a fallen angel wasn’t called out by the caretaker but this beautiful, innocent creature did? If it were up to her, she would put some sense into that old ha-

What has gotten into her?

Assuming a fallen angel persona does not give her the rights to commit such nasty things, even though she knew real fallen angels were evil by default. Well, if they exist that is, but honestly, at this point, it felt like anything could happen really. If the Kurosawa sisters were some kind of a horror creature, then her falling from the heavens doesn’t sound as crazy anymore.

The magenta-eyed girl’s thoughts were disrupted when her friend invited her to play together with the cat, while telling her not to worry too much about its welfare. Despite being cooped up in this shack due to the elder’s orders, Hanamaru managed to make some time to properly take care of it, feeding it, and playing together of course!

So, the duo went outside with this peculiar feline creature, bringing it out to the nearby woods to give the cat some fresh air it deserves. They managed to have fun together, like running around the courtyard (but hoping the grandmother doesn’t notice), and taking turns to stroke the cat, and oh my, what a blissful sound it made.

Despite that, they couldn’t shake the feeling how the noises it made sounded awfully familiar. Like the tone, the pitch, it really reminds them of someone from school.

“Zuramaru, you have a name for this magnificent creature that God sent to stray this fallen angel further away?”

“Heh, aren’t fallen angels already astray, zura?”

Yoshiko blushed from the sudden embarrassment.

“But to answer your question, uhh, I never actually thought of it yet.”

“Well, you have any idea?”

Hanamaru stared back at the humongous cat, by god, look at how cute its face was. Its beautiful yet unnatural shade of red, its emerald green eyes.

On the spur of the moment, she managed to piece out all the features she had observed, and that gave her an idea for the cat’s name.

“Nekoruby.”

Yoshiko was surprised, the only thing she was able to say was, “what?”

“Look at her, zura! Kinda reminds you of her, don’t you think?”

She was right in a way, sometimes it does feel like she was gazing into Ruby but in the form of a cat.

An abnormally big cat that is, if it stood with only two of its paws it would probably be as tall as the redhead.

“Hmm, I don’t know, that name’s kinda cringe, don’t you think?”

“Says Yohane…”

“It’s Yoshi-, no wait, my real name is not crin-”

“Well, do you have any better name, zura?”

Silence was the only answer she could give.

“Hmpf, thought so.”

It’s official. Starting from that moment, they began to refer to the cat with its newly given name, Nekoruby.

The two girls continued to have some fun together until Yoshiko suddenly remembered about when the last bus would depart, so unfortunately, she had to cut their meeting short, bid her farewells to the host family, before making a mad dash downhill to the bus stop.

Luckily, for the usually unlucky girl, she managed to catch the last bus just in time, and arrived safely at her apartment complex in Numazu, where her family awaits.

They had a delicious dinner together, but Yoshiko still could not get that cat out of her mind. She really, really wanted to have a pet like that, but it’s a shame the management won’t allow it. So instead, the only thing she was able to do was to just daydream about it when she laid on her bed, hoping that it would reappear in her dreams.

Well, maybe she should consider hanging out at Hanamaru’s place more often then.

With that, she closed her eyes, trying to sleep well for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew, i think this is the longest chapter i wrote for this fic to date, i hope it's not too dragging or anything. there's gonna be some more interesting and exciting stuff soon, but for now, hope you readers enjoyed this cracky premise for what it's worth!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew, it's been a while since i updated this one, mainly cause i ended up getting busy with my other WIPs.  
> anyways, here it is!

Of all the crazy things their wildly imaginative heads could ever come up with, never would they ever thought that one, or in this case, two of them might not be what they seem they were.

After the Kurosawa sisters’ big reveal, the rest of Aqours attempted to come to terms with the new reality, the fact that the sisters were a different kind of breed altogether, horror creatures disguised as polite, innocent women. Unsettling that situation may be, they were still, first and foremost, their friends, and it’s not like they were going to turn evil overnight, or at least they hoped so.

They proceeded with the plan they agreed before, trying to ensure that the two Dias wouldn’t cross paths with each other more often, so as to avoid any more disputes like what happened before, but more importantly, to avoid raising any suspicion from the other students of the school. Surprisingly, it went off without a hitch, but at the same time, they were also worried about how long they could keep up with it.

Granted, two should be a piece of cake, but what if they somehow multiplied again? Hopefully they wouldn’t have to worry about Dia again, but her younger sister? That’s where they started to get a little bit concerned, if last week’s accident was any indication. They were lucky it wasn’t as bad as it could be, but any more carelessness might end up giving birth to yet another clone, something they ought to burn before they could form any emotional attachment to it, because once that happens, rest assured it will stay on forever.

And then, there’s this whole sudden rise of inexplicable cases happening in their prefecture lately, which suffice to say, is all the more reason to be worried about.

Rumours had been circulating about the numerous bodies being found by the authorities in bizarre circumstances, or how homicide cases seem to start out of the blue more often, or even suicides for that matter. It seems as if more and more people had gone insane or something, but they haven’t been able to pinpoint from where exactly this madness originated from.

Nevertheless, the girls managed to keep their cool, each playing their role in maintaining the secret. There might have been some awkward moments sprinkled here and there, like how Dia almost stepped into the student council room when her other self was holding a meeting with some other students, but as things stand, there were virtually zero suspicion ever since the classroom incident.

Heck, they even managed to upload their Halloween PV by the end of the week as planned, at least the positive reactions they got took their minds off from this unprecedented situation. They were ecstatic by the amount of views they had in just hours, the likes, the encouraging comments, everything! The joy of sharing something they had put a lot of effort on to their fans and the general public never feels old. Hopefully, fingers crossed, this would translate well into the amount of their school’s student applications.

The same evening, Aqours held a practice session on the rooftop as usual, working hard to nail every movement and every pitch of their songs. After an hour or so, they all called for a break, obviously exhausted after the intensive physical activities they endured. The members went on with their own business: chatting, using their phones, etc. Meanwhile, Dia oddly told the rest that she had to use the toilet, before quickly rushing downstairs.

A couple of minutes later, the student council president reappeared from the stairwell, looking more refreshed and devoid of sweat.

Like she hadn’t practiced just now.

“Hey, don’t think you can get away with that!” Mari exclaimed.

“With what?”

Kanan playfully threw her wet towel straight at her face, the raven-head was clearly trying to resist the temptation of scratching her mole.

“Don’t think we didn’t know what you did. Changing your bodies, think you’re so sneaky, huh?”

“Err…”

Kanan’s remarks made Dia’s cheeks flushed from embarrassment.

“Aww, I thought you all wouldn’t notice. Besides, wouldn’t it be better if I stay energetic for practice anyways?”

Dia’s excuse was only met by retort from her fellow members, they worked so hard for their group, gave everything they could, and to see a fellow member standing energetically only made them more jealous; they’re not going to let this girl get away scot-free.

“I don’t know, that’s kinda cheating don’t you think?” teased Mari.

Everyone shook their heads in agreement.

“Sure, we can’t tell you apart from your other self, but what we can tell is if someone hadn’t broken a sweat,” added Chika.

“And if we all have to go through all that, so do you.” Riko smirked teasingly.

“I’m afraid they’re right, sis.”

Dia only managed to let out a low-pitched groan.

“You too, Ruby?”

Instantly, You rushed to Dia’s side, before handing out a command.

“Push-ups, now!”

The third-year grunted and went down hesitantly as she forced herself to follow the orders. She willed her body up and down for several times and was starting to grow a little tired as the commander hadn’t signalled an end to this torture yet.

The only thing the girls did was to exchange some slight laughter with each other.

After the sailor’s daughter finally gave Dia the orders to stop, she took another break, this time hanging around with her closest classmates as usual. They spent the time chatting, talking about a variety of things, basically a lot of small talk.

However, Kanan and Dia noticed something was a little off with Mari, who was notoriously known for being extremely lively and chaotic. Sure, she was still her cheery self, but having been close friends for many years already, they could easily recognise when that bubbly personality becomes a façade.

Dia was reluctant to ask the blonde, so it was up to Kanan to take the first step.

“Hey, Mari, you feeling good right now?”

The atmosphere went dead silent for a while, as the blonde composed herself to answer the question.

“Oh, it’s just my favourite chef.”

Now the blonde’s friends became curious. They have heard about the amazingly skilled young chef her family had hired for the hotel’s restauration service, if they remember it correctly, it would’ve been almost six years since the chef first started his work here. They remember the stories Mari told them, about how delicious his cooking was, and how lucky she was to have her cook dinner on certain days. In fact, his cooking was cited as one of the things the rich girl missed when she was away overseas.

Other than that, there was not much known about the chef, or how he looks like, it made the two girls suddenly realise that Mari never actually invited them to test out the dishes he serves, so it’s no surprise their only information about him was through her friend’s words.

Sure, his cooking might be delicious from all the descriptions they had, but what made their friend’s head become so occupied about him?

Could it be that the chef would leave the hotel’s staff team soon? What else could it be?

“So, uhh, he’s been missing for weeks now. When my parents noticed, the hotel management tried to contact him, but he was unreachable. A-And now, he…”

Mari struggled to hold back her tears, before forcing herself to conclude her sentence.

“…he’s dead.”

Her two friends were suddenly shocked, now they understood why she was feeling so disturbed lately. The blonde showed her phone screen to their faces, a news article published quite recently, with a rather disturbing headline.

“Missing Man Found Dead, Body Partially Recovered”

But what unsettled them more was the image accompanying the headline above.

It was only a formal identification photograph of the unlucky chef, but it was enough to spark the memories of the classmates.

Dia would recognise him as the man who assaulted her and her sister.

Kanan would recognise him as the man he saw on the edge of the pier.

It didn’t take that long for the girls to realise what major role they had in his unfortunate death, all while Mari pulled her phone back, touched her screen, and shoved it back to their eyesight.

They really wished Mari hadn’t done so.

The image that showed up this time was extremely gruesome, no doubt it was too extreme for newspapers to pick it up.

In her palms was a photograph of what could only be described as a half-eaten carcass of a human body. It looked like it had been devoured by the creatures underneath, but they knew that no fish from the nearby sea could’ve done so. The head was still intact, the forensics might have a hard time if it wasn’t. But the look on his face was already horrifying at worst, it looked as if his eyes had encountered a monstrous, unholy entity. And this very entity had chewed off much of his meat cleanly, exposing a lot of his bones throughout his entire body. One could see an arm and a leg completely devoid of flesh, a burrowed torso exposing many of his internal organs, his intestines half-eaten like thick noodles and dragged outside far from where it should’ve been.

There were too many disturbing details that they hadn’t caught on yet, mostly because of how repulsive they found that photo to be, to the point where they had to look away far from that distressing image. Thankfully, Mari realised her mistake and quickly switched off her phone.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Her friends sighed in relief; they no longer want to be reminded of the darkest moments they had; the things they did that resulted in the death of their friend’s favourite chef. How could they have done so?

“Well, I guess it’s just one of those weird deaths that’s going on right now. Whatever it was, I really hope they solve this mystery pronto, it’s starting to get a lot scarier nowadays!”

\----

The moonlit skies of Uchiura were looming beautifully over the seaside town, stars from many light years away decorating the stellar nightscape.

Down on the asphalt streets, the last bus heading towards Numazu was already navigating itself through its designated route, albeit with a lack of passengers. Sure enough, there’s probably not much people wanting to go out this late at night, when all the shops are closed and it’s too dark to stay awake.

Not for Daishi though, who had loyally worked for Tokai Bus as a driver for about seven years now. He knew every twist and turns along his usual route, which he had driven on in the last three years after driving on several other routes. With that much experience, he knew very well that the last trip can sometimes be the eeriest one, having to drive a usually empty bus through some forested roads could make up for an unsettling experience.

After exiting a tunnel, the driver was instantly met with a sight of a beautiful young woman, flailing her arms to stop the bus. There was a slight problem about that though. Daishi knew very well that he wasn’t supposed to stop outside of the authorised bus stops, but at the same time, he couldn’t bear to just leave this woman alone in the dark, especially where she would be so vulnerable to the many threats that she could face, considering the current situation.

He had no choice but to slowly place his feet on the brake pedal, and with a flick of a switch, the front doors slid inwards, letting this mysterious woman inside the bus. And my oh my, what a beauty she is.

Standing in front of him was a face so charming, a body so alluring, and it didn’t help that what she wore accentuated her posture. A tight black dress only cut short just above her kneecaps, revealing her bare, milky legs that was moulded to perfection. Going back up, her figure was comparable to that of the supermodels he saw on magazines, who would’ve thought that this kind of beauty still exists in the countryside? A figure so perfectly proportional, the tight dress really didn’t help, especially with her decently sized bust complementing her body perfectly. And then there’s her face, a literal face of beauty. Her hypnotic grey eyes, her firm lips, and a distinct beauty mark just under her left eye. Her long black hair was extremely straight and well-conditioned, with a silky texture that made her hair looked so smooth and flawless. Just like her entire body. He noticed there was not a single blemish on any of her exposed skin, like she was literally made out of porcelain.

Funnily enough, the way she styled her hair does kind of remind him of that one school idol representing a high school in this area, he probably saw her taking this same route a couple of times while driving on it. And she was equally beautiful in her own way too he admits, though maybe a bit too young for him.

For now, his focus was solely on this seductress he met in the middle of nowhere, who said nothing but only dropped her yen coins in the coin box next to the driver’s compartment, with just the right amount of the fare to Numazu.

She made her way to the back of the bus, but not too far away from Daishi’s sight.

He quickly shifted the gears as its engine starts to roar louder, the bus back in motion as he proceeds to complete the route’s last trip of the day.

For some reason, he couldn’t look away from her this entire time. He kept peeking on the mirror that shows him a good view of the entire interior, and this girl’s seat just happened to be one of the closest in this reflection.

It felt like he was being teased, seduced even, but as a bus driver, he knew he shouldn’t lose his focus and instead, pay more attention to the roads.

But the more he tried, the more he couldn’t. It’s up to the point where he might as well just drive this bus straight to home and bring her with it. But the implications would be heavy. He had to answer to his bosses why the bus was missing from the depot, or why he used it for unauthorised reasons. And then this woman, it could be that she belonged to someone already, or that she just happened to be very late and needed to go back home as soon as possible.

When the driver thought about that last part, he realised that he was stopped in the middle of nowhere, it was just the trees of the nearby forest, what business did she had there in the first place?

Never mind, he shouldn’t bother about the woman’s private life, just like how he shouldn’t passively force her to come with him.

Luckily, despite all the unusual distraction, he managed to not get into any trouble, like running a red light or crashing into something, any infractions that would put a big dent on his payslip. He was completely swayed by her presence, but he knew eventually she would press the bell and stop somewhere, ending this fateful encounter.

But after several minutes, the bell stays untouched and the bus stayed silent until it reached its terminus, Numazu Station.

Being this late at night, there was a sparse presence of people on a usually congested transport hub, the trains were no longer running, and the buses were already dropping their final passengers, if there were any, before making their way back to the depot.

But his lone passenger didn’t move at all, even if it was made crystal clear that this is the last stop of the route.

“Miss, we’re already at the terminus, please get off the bus, and thank you.”

The unbelievably attractive woman was still sitting there motionless.

“Miss?”

“Can you take me to your place instead, please?”

Daishi gulped.

On one hand, he’s not allowed to bring any unauthorised personnel to the bus depot, but on the other hand, this is a great opportunity to spend at least a night with this ethereal beauty he found.

His hand was still on the handbrake lever, and after much thinking, he swiftly closed the doors, unclenched the parking brake, and put his foot on the gas pedal, slowly making his way out from the bus terminal.

Daishi hoped nobody would question why he brought this girl with him, despite full well knowing the consequences if he got caught out. The woman herself now seems to be cooperating, sitting somewhere away from the windows so people outside wouldn’t notice her inside the well-lit bus.

Minutes later, the bus arrived at the front gates of their company’s depot, waiting for the security guard to slide open the iron gates. Thankfully, the guard didn’t notice anything strange, and let the bus enter the compound freely.

The bus driver then parked his bus at its designated place under the shed, where luckily nobody was around at the time. He supposed the maintenance team and the cleaning team’s shifts hadn’t started yet, and god was he so grateful for that. All he had to do now was to leave the keys at its place and placing his trip report on the pile of papers, before heading straight to the parking lot with a woman on his side.

Out of courtesy, he opened the door on the passenger’s side of his car first, inviting this alluring young lady into his maroon Honda Civic. Then, it was his turn to get on the car, and as he did so, he instantly spun his key inside the keyhole, turning its engine on. What follows later was a smooth ride along the streets of Numazu, but the ambiance remained silent as neither of its passengers initiated a conversation or anything.

But either way, they finally arrived at a basic low-rise housing complex Daishi calls home, as he parked his maroon car on the side of the street. Just like before, he practiced his manners by opening the door for his lovely passenger and locked his car as soon as she got out. The two then found themselves on the front door, where the man was unlocking the gateway to his home.

“Hey, uhh, I don’t think we’ve talked much during our trip,” said Daishi, trying to smoothen up the relation between the two.

And what better way to do so than to try knowing what to call each other.

“The name’s Daishi by the way, and what about you, lovely?”

The beauty incarnate slowly formed her lips into the sweetest smile the man had ever witnessed.

“Just call me Tomie.”


	9. Chapter 9

Buzz.

Buzz.

Yoshiko’s room was dimly lit by the rising sunlight, mostly obscured by her black and magenta curtains. The first year spent the whole Friday night playing video games until the wee hours, so it’s no surprise that the constant vibrating of her phone bothered her a lot.

Who dares to disturb the fallen angel’s slumber?

Still tired from her lack of sleep, she forced herself to grab her phone and see what the buzzing was all about and saw a notification for new messages coming from her classmate. She didn’t know how Hanamaru’s sleep schedule is on a normal weekend, but knowing her, she seems to be a morning person. And it shows in the timing she sent those messages.

8:30 AM

When did Yoshiko even fell asleep last night? Was it 2 am? 3? Did she even remember exactly when?

Well, all that doesn’t matter, now that her eyes were open, she might as well check them out.

“Hey Yoshiko, you wanna come to my place again today? We can play with Nekoruby, she’s changed so much since she last saw you!”

Interesting. Yoshiko wondered what change the abnormally large cat went through, maybe she had gotten cuter?

“Oh, I think we should tell Ruby about this, she deserves to know about it, what do you think?”

Yoshiko took some time to think of a response, though it’s taking some time as her mind was still blurry from her deep sleep.

“yea just tell her. might as well invite her today too, idk”

After a few minutes, her messaging app notified her of a reply, to which she read it just from the lock screen.

“Okay then! I just told her. See you in the afternoon!”

Oh, thank the evil overlords from the underworld below. With many hours to spare, the magenta-eyed girl might as well go back to bed to recuperate some of her lost sleeping time, hoping she would be totally refreshed and energetic to play with the peculiarly enchanting creature.

\----

“Wow, Yoshiko’s really taking her time here, zura…”

“Just be patient Hanamaru, you know she doesn’t live that near.”

“Yeah, but-”

Both Hanamaru and Ruby were interrupted by a knocking on the front door, and a faint erratic breathing from behind it, as if its host ran all the way uphill because she was very late.

Hanamaru quickly slid open the door, welcoming their missing friend who was late for at least an hour already.

“Yoshiko! What took you so long?”

“Uhh, I may have overslept and left my bus pass again when I left, and I tripped into a puddle and I barely missed the bus, so I had to wait like another 20 minutes and-”

But all in a sudden, the girl cleared her throat, and followed up with a much deeper voice.

“I was told that one of my little demons had summoned me to seek my sinful presence-”

“Mhmm, yeah, by summoning you mean messaging, then yes, zura.”

“Hey, how dare you interrupt a fallen angel’s speech!”

“Hey Yoshiko-chan.”

“Oh, hi Ruby-chan.”

The trio shared an awkward moment of silence, before the host gestured to her visitor to get inside.

“Oh, by the way, it’s Yohane! Don’t think I’ll ever let that slide.”

The recently arrived visitor broke the silence as she took off her shoes, setting it aside on the nearby rack before going beyond the front doors.

The other visitor was already sitting behind the table, a cute young redhead whose smile could instantly brighten anyone’s day. The innocent girl hadn’t known yet of the secret both Hanamaru and Yoshiko kept to themselves, but all that would soon be unveiled whenever the brunette was ready.

After the three friends were seated comfortably on the floor around a short wooden table, the host, wearing a round spectacles in front of her rich brown eyes, began talking, her smooth, soft voice wanting to know how everybody was doing before getting to the main event.

Ruby had been doing fine despite the situation she was thrown in since a week ago, and Yoshiko, well, if her earlier bout of bad luck was any indication, she’s doing pretty well for a cursed fallen angel.

The trio continued their conversation, now they were exchanging words over some small talk, but all that would soon be followed by the school librarian excusing herself and walking towards her bedroom, her visitors curious on what could be in store.

Not long after, the brunette reappeared with a humanoid figure slightly taller than her, a figure so uncannily similar that it made someone screeching alongside the figure itself.

“PIGIII!”

“PIGII-NYAAA!”

The soundwaves were borderline earth-shattering, the others were very lucky they managed to anticipate this, their ears would’ve bled from the intensely high pitch of these screams.

Nevertheless, now that the living room went suddenly silent, the two redheads curiously inched closer to each other slowly, observing just how similar their facial features were.

It was like looking at a mirror, except not exactly.

On one side, stood an adorable redhead, her ruby red hair neatly tied into twintails on each side of her head. Wearing a casual bright pink shirt covering her petite figure and a sakura pink skirt to complement it, her emerald green eyes peered closely at her counterpart, observing the details that she could make out from this mysterious entity that happened to resemble her too much.

On the other side, stood an equally adorable redhead, her hair also tied into the same manner as the girl in front of her did. She even bears the exact same features on her face, the emerald green eyes, the soft lips, even down to the blushing of the cheeks. The difference however became notable once Ruby gazed her eyes upwards, a pair of cat ears popping out from just above its head. The girl swore the feline ears even moved on its own for a little while, she could tell that this hybrid creature was just as shocked as her from its stiff ears.

Then, the human redhead moved her eyes downwards, and was met with an astonishing sight.

It was evident that the catgirl in front of her had nothing to cover herself but her lush fur, bearing the same ruby red shade as her hair, its figure was covered from her chest down to her thighs. The fashion enthusiast in her could only marvel at how fitting it was, if Ruby didn’t know better, she would’ve thought that her feline counterpart wore a beautiful dress out of thick fur. She also noticed a long tail dangling from her back, wagging slowly back and forth.

Ruby slowly outstretched her right arm, her palms now just inches away above Nekoruby’s head. Slowly, she patted the catgirl, her cat ears now moving slightly forward while her eyes were closed shut, her rapidly wagging tail clearly indicated that she was enjoying it.

“Aww, that feels so good, nya!”

She even talks! Ruby felt like she was listening to her own voice trying to imitate Rin from μ’s, judging from the meows the feline human added to the end of her sentences.

As the redhead was entirely engrossed with her furry self, Yoshiko whispered a question to Hanamaru’s ears.

“Hey, I thought your grandma doesn’t want you to keep her inside?”

“She, uhh, managed to convince her, zura,” shrugged Hanamaru.

Well, at least they’re now happy for this adorable creature, keeping her locked inside that wooden shed was just inhumane.

After several minutes, Ruby finally broke her silence, still fawning over the unbelievably cute catgirl.

“W-Where did you find her?”

“I found her on the way back home weeks ago. She was just a normal cat back then, but somehow, she started to grow bigger, and look at her now! It’s like a catgirl version of yourself, isn’t that just cute, zura?”

Ruby enthusiastically nodded. Being a fan of all things cute, it’s no surprise that she also likes the catgirl aesthetics, she even drew some costume drafts for Aqours based on said theme. To see a version of herself so befitting as a perfect example, her heart could only melt from cuteness overload. 

“You have any idea how, zura? I had a hunch you might have something to do with it after, uhh, what we’ve been told about you.”

The redhead was interrupted by her friend’s question, whose suspicions in fact matches hers.

After all, there’s no way a true catgirl could exist in real life, but knowing what Ruby was capable of, she might’ve indirectly played a role in creating this hybrid creature.

Ruby tried to recall if there were any events that could explain this and was brought back to the bloody incident which changed her notion about her own self. In all honesty, she really wanted to put it way behind her, it was still a traumatising experience despite managing to survive miraculously. But from the things she recalled from that fateful night, she could recall a cute ginger cat just strolling down the same street, just before the madman’s assault. It didn’t take long for the redhead to finally connect the dots.

“My blood must’ve seeped through that cat, I guess…”

She stared back at the redheaded catgirl, who was wagging her tail repeatedly, calling out for attention with her irresistible puppy eyes.

The trio heeded the call and started playing around together. They began running around outside, patting each other, taking turns to stroke Nekoruby’s fur, whose purring was a literal bliss. The four of them even had fun back indoors, watching some movies, idol videos, and even eating some snacks together.

They had a lot of fun for several hours; the passing of time went unnoticed until a chuunibyou among them took a glimpse on her phone screen.

“Aaah! It’s too late already!”

The girls stopped on their tracks, and gazed their eyes outside, where they could see the sun was starting to set from the windows.

Time really does fly fast when you’re having fun.

“Yoshiko, wait!”

The magenta-eyed girl was already putting on her shoes, Ruby shouting at her as she was equally late as well. Meanwhile, Hanamaru sent off Nekoruby back to her room, before rushing for her two friends already at the courtyard.

The trio then made their way downhill, until they could see the blue sea reflecting a hue of orange, and a road just beside it. The nearest bus stop was not that far away, but Yoshiko would need to cross the road to the other side, luckily there isn’t much traffic in this small seaside village, let alone during weekends.

She memorised her route’s schedule in the back of her mind, and so-called Yohane knew if she missed the next one, she would have to miserably wait longer than she did before. The setting sun was enough indication that the frequency would soon be sparser, and she hoped this time her parents would understand her situation if she ever came home late again.

Like always, luck was never on Yoshiko’s side. As her two friends bid their farewell while she crossed the street, she was struggling to pull out her purse, and when she did, it fell right onto the surface. Quickly, she bent herself towards the ground, grabbing her grey purse on the asphalt, and rose upright.

But the unfortunate girl had zero idea what’s about to hit her.

\----

Last night was a life-changer.

Coming across an ethereal beauty by chance, Daishi never would’ve thought that he could be this close with such a goddess, let alone having her stay together under the same roof. The humble bus driver never really bothered too much about entering a romantic relationship, but with this girl?

He would do anything.

And he’s dead serious. Sure, he only knew this mysteriously alluring girl under the name of Tomie very recently, but he can’t stop feeling that maybe this is it. His destiny. His true love.

But god, was she so hard to please! So picky. So demanding. When he set up a futon for her to sleep on, she complained that it was not comfortable enough. Not befitting for a woman like her. And she was right, Daishi thought. When you’re blessed with an indescribable beauty so charming and alluring, she had every right to act like she did. Tomie deserves the best.

And he was willing to give it to her by all means.

That’s why he ended up working on both the morning and evening shifts today, trying to make some more money to appease his new girlfriend. His co-workers were surprised at the decision but didn’t question it any further. Bus driving is a demanding task, and the repetition can bore people easily. Driving the same bus. The same route. And to do that for several hours?

It shows very well from his eyebags, his tiredness starting to overtake his body. The bus driver knew this was extremely dangerous, he was in no position to continue driving if he keeps on getting overworked. But that’s okay, he thought. There’s nothing wrong with being hardworking, right?

And he’s doing all this for the woman who could never get out of his mind. Literally. Everywhere he goes, her presence still lingers in his head, her beautiful face, her hypnotic grey eyes; all her amazingly attractive features makes it extremely hard for Daishi to stop thinking about Tomie.

His attention was never 100% on the road during his whole shift, curse this girl for being too beautiful for this world. Thankfully, he never got involved into any trouble that could jeopardise his entire career, he must’ve been extremely lucky thanks to his girlfriend.

But his stretch of luck ended along the sea, when he felt an unusual bump on his bus, prompting the driver to stop for a while and realise what he had done.

\----

Ruby shouted her goodbyes to her friend crossing the road, who somehow fumbled with her bag, dropping her purse along the way. When the dark-haired girl bent herself to pick it up, Ruby heard a familiar roaring of an engine, and a looming shadow approaching the unlucky girl.

And it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop any time soon.

Panicked, the redhead quickly ran towards Yoshiko who had just stood up, and quickly pushed her aside onto the sidewalk.

It was enough to save her friend, but not herself.

The redhead was now lying on the ground, but with only inches separating her body and the heavy vehicle, there was no way she could escape in time.

Instead, her two friends were met with a horrifying sight, their ears were filled with a shocking noise when a tyre rammed over Ruby’s torso, splatting her blood all across the street. They heard the crackling of their friend’s bones, her torso mercilessly flattened by the sheer weight of the bus. After the long vehicle finished its brutal passage over the innocent human being, they were left with a heart-breaking sight of her remains; a petite, feminine figure lying on the asphalt, motionless and disfigured.

“Hey!”

The orange-clad bus stopped short metres away from the scene, an enraged Hanamaru ran towards it, but was only met with fumes as the bus went back into motion.

Knowing they would never be able to catch the perpetrator, the duo could only carry the limp and lifeless body away from the scene, away from any prying eyes.

\----

Daishi couldn’t believe it.

He was so distracted to the point where he had probably killed someone. Taking an innocent life away. How could he? How did he let his guard down?

If his higher-ups knew about this, he would be suspended, or worse, fired. And he couldn’t afford all that.

Especially when he has a girl to impress.

His attention was brought back to the woman who has haunted his thoughts this entire day, oh, the things she would do for her. The bus driver had already booked a reservation at a fancy restaurant smack in the middle of downtown Numazu, he heard that they serve some high-quality caviar and foie gras. Sure, Daishi would have to pay all that in credit, but as long as Tomie is happy, he’s happy.

But if she isn’t, so would he.

Already running late, his eyes went back to his dashboard, showing just how behind on time he was. This was supposed to be his last trip, he wouldn’t want to be late for his date, and he wouldn’t want to risk any reduction in his pay for not meeting the company’s always on-time policy.

Without further ado, he quickly put his foot on the gas pedal, leaving the scene as fast as he could.

\----

Empty.

It was the only apt word to describe what Ruby was feeling right now. A surge of intense pain quickly replaced by a complete lack of sensation.

Nothingness.

Is this what her sister felt when she saved her from the madman? Surrounded by an empty void, all while her life flashed away after pushing her friend aside. Yoshiko was very lucky that it wasn’t her, if it was, it would’ve been game over for her.

But not for Ruby.

She saw what happened to her sister, how she came back to life despite missing a limb, and she could feel the same was happening to her despite her mangled body.

The redhead was starting to regain her consciousness when she started picking up some faint arguments from her two friends.

“Stop shaking her head, zura!”

“What? She’ll wake up faster-”

“No, just leave her like that, give her time!”

Sure enough, after some time, she finally blinked open her eyes, coughing out some more blood from her mouth, much to the shock of her friends. She looked towards her own deformed body, and oh dear, what a disgusting sight it was.

“Zura.”

What follows was a loud scream, Hanamaru luckily managed to pick up the cue and covered her ears in time, but the same cannot be said for Yoshiko.

The redhead witnessed in horror at her bloodied shirt, tears were flowing from her eyes as she saw its shade of pink became darker, her crushed body smeared by black tyre marks, she swore she could see some of her insides being exposed in plain sight. The sensation was unbearable too, Ruby could feel her lower spine shattered and her stomach squished.

But it was no longer as painful as it was the first time, Ruby could slowly feel that she stopped losing any more blood. She rolled up her blood-stained shirt and saw her mangled torso, completely thinned out from the impact. But her figure had started to gradually reform itself, the trio could see how her bare flesh was slowly being covered by her ever-growing smooth skin, albeit still misshapen. But give her time, and her entire body would soon be as perfect as it was before.

“Oh, thank you thank you thank you so muc- I mean, Yohane commends her most loyal little demon for her deeds to rescue her master.”

Yoshiko, after recovering from her ringing ears, went straight to Ruby’s head, and expressed her earnest yet awkward gratitude to the girl who saved her, spilling her own tears in the process. There was nothing the fallen angel can do in her power to repay her debt in full.

Ruby only smiled through the pain, returning the fallen angel’s gratitude, playing along with her schtick.

“Always happy to serve her rightful master.”

The trio waited under the tree shade for a while, leaving Ruby some time to rest after going through what would’ve killed off a mortal.

Now feeling slightly better, Ruby slowly got up, much to the concern of her friends.

“Ruby, wait…”

The redhead no longer felt any pain when she stood up despite her slightly demented figure, although the faint cracklings was enough proof that her spine was starting to straighten up.

“I’m already running late anyways…”

Ruby’s body hadn’t fully recovered yet, but it’s already enough for her to regain her bodily functions properly. Her upper body was still slightly loose from her lower body, but despite the squick, the scaredy redhead decided that it would be for the best to brave herself, especially if she had to go through anything like that again.

“Are you sure you’re alright, zura?”

Hanamaru was still worried about her long-time friend, to which the redhead only responded with a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

\----

“Ooh, Aqours just released a new PV…”

Nico Yazawa is undoubtedly one of Tokyo’s most prominent idol scout/manager. She started building up her name by being one of the members of, μ’s, the legendary school idol group who rose to prominence throughout the run up to their eventual victory in the Love Live! competition. The group quickly became a household name in the school idol lore, but sadly, all good things must come to an end. Following their shock but imminent disbandment, the black-haired girl stayed within the idol industry, this was her passion after all, having built up her interest on idols for many years.

As a result, she was still hooked to the school idol scene, still enjoying the new content being put out by these new and emerging school idols. She made good use of her deep-rooted passion to the scene by looking out for potential acts who could do well under the idol agency she works for.

So here she was, scouring through her watchlist in the middle of the night, observing the progress of the groups she thought had potential. Aqours particularly caught her eye, in her opinion they could be one of the dark horse contenders for this edition of the tournament, despite failing to make it to the nationals during the previous one.

“Now, where are they from again?”

The red-eyed girl thought to herself as she scrolled through the group’s biodata and found the information she needed.

Uchiura, Shizuoka Prefecture.

“Interesting…”

Other than school idols, Nico had added something else in her range of interests. For the past year or so, she started to take an interest on paranormal occurrences, particularly that of inexplicable deaths that would boggle a lot of minds, or cases of people going randomly insane.

Hence, it was no surprise that the former idol had heard of the mysterious rise of death cases in the aforementioned prefecture, to the point where they had considered launching an in-depth investigation to explain all this.

But thanks to her extensive research and personal experience, she knew what exactly the root cause is. And this made Nico more eager to visit this small seaside village, she might as well try her luck in killing two birds with a stone. Actually, make that three.

As soon as she logged off from her computer, she slowly slipped her way onto the queen-sized bed, where her red-headed girlfriend awaits.

“Hey Maki…”

The two girls had been together for quite a while, even if it took them years before they finally opened up to each other about their feelings. Ever since then, they had been living happily together. While Nico was still involved in the idol scene, Maki was far removed from it, now she’s in the medical sector, being a junior doctor at her family’s hospital after completing a gruelling course at a medical school just recently.

“Uhh, what is it?”

The redhead was visibly annoyed, she needed to get up early the next day for work, she had no time for all this pre-sleep small talk.

Sure enough, her forehead was suddenly in contact with her girlfriend’s lips, which only made Maki blush a little further. After a long kiss, Nico pulled her head back, and started whispering in her soft yet playful voice.

“Fancy a seaside honeymoon?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> now that i have NicoMaki in this fic, i might as well use the SIP fandom tag too, so to those coming from the SIP fandom page, welcome!
> 
> this fic is still Sunshine!! centric but expect some other girls from μ’s to make an appearance soon.


	10. Ooh, Pretty Bomber Head!

“Haah…”

Ruby slumped her body beside Hanamaru’s, exhausted from the task at hand. This week, it’s the first years’ turn to clean up their clubroom, leaving the rest of Aqours some free time after a formal club meeting that they were mandated to do by the school’s extra-curricular department at least once a week. Usually done on a Monday afternoon, there really was not much to discuss, other than some weekly briefings about their progress, their current projects, the composition of this week’s practice sessions, and future live shows.

And of course, once the meeting is settled, someone has got to clean up the mess they might have made throughout the week. A duty roster arranged according to their years, sub-units, etc. were agreed upon months before, and now the trio was doing all the cleaning despite the weekend they had.

Dia knew for sure, Yoshiko and Hanamaru couldn’t help but shiver at her chilling stare whenever they crossed paths, they were certain that those emerald eyes of her were looking directly into their souls. Ruby on the other hand was more forgiving, she knew it’s not their fault, and besides, none of that really matters when their redheaded friend could attend her classes like she was never rammed by a bus in the first place.

Yoshiko was still sweeping up the floors when the rest had finished their tasks; Hanamaru helped rearrange the many stuff they had back to where they belong, while Ruby had just finished wiping the windows clean.

“Hungry, zura…”

The trio were interrupted by the rumbling sound originating from Hanamaru’s tummy, followed by the others’ almost in sync.

Yoshiko knew she must finish her duty first before tending to her hunger, so all she could do was just watch as her redheaded friend rose towards the table, grabbing their snacks, and even passed some of it to the tired brunette. Hanamaru was loyal to her cream-filled noppo bread, while Ruby went for a tuna sandwich that her beloved sister made for her.

“Itadakimasu!”

Their mouths munched into their respective snacks, much to Yoshiko’s nuisance. The fallen angel just kept her hands tightly onto the broom, how could a simple task like sweeping up the floor takes up a lot of time? But as her magenta eyes briefly peeked at the table, the wooden broom fell sideways from her loosening grip.

“AAAAH! HOT! HOT!!”

Yoshiko spent the whole night crafting the perfect spicy tuna sandwich, using the hottest ingredients she could get her hands on. Her tuna paste consists of freshly cut raw onions and garlic, some mayonnaise and a dollop of tabasco sauce, seasoned with a variety of peppers. Other than lettuce, she garnished the sandwich by adding a variety of sliced raw chillies; including, but not limited to jalapeno, habanero, bird eye’s chilli, etc. No human could ever tolerate that kind of heat.

Which is why the fallen angel was extremely distressed by her little demon’s hellish screams.

Ruby was running straight outside to the courtyard, causing another mess that they would have to clean up. The poor girl was crying for help, for anything to cool down her burning tongue.

Hanamaru only stared at Yoshiko in suspicion, before rushing to the nearest vending machine to get a box of milk. Yoshiko meanwhile rushed towards the runaway redhead, who was clearly making her way to the school’s swimming pool. Not long after, the bookworm returned with not one, but two boxes of milk, hoping it would be enough to soothe the unbearable heat.

Ruby’s mindless dash was suddenly interrupted by a tree, giving Hanamaru the opportunity to catch up to her friend in need. The constant screaming and crying were painful to listen to, and Yoshiko regretted so much for not telling which sandwich was hers, it was pure bad luck that both were happened to be wrapped by an aluminium foil.

But as it turns out, the duo was left with another problem.

Ruby kept on pressing her hands over her head, as if trying to suppress something from coming out. And sure enough, a new pair of green eyes popped out on the right side of the poor girl’s head, eerily appearing just under her pigtail.

Yoshiko and Hanamaru were taken aback at what they had just seen, a portion of Ruby’s head was bulging outwards, slowly shaping into a face still covered with hair.

“Cut it off!”

Ruby was still screaming, not just from the pain of her flaming mouth, but also from her head feeling like it was going to split into two. It was not at all a pleasant feeling, having a tumour in the shape of her own face bulging from behind her hair was extremely horrific, torturous even.

Her friends were left with no choice, they must end this torture now.

They forcefully dragged the redhead into a tool shed as quick as they could, thankfully it wasn’t that far away.

But now the girls were confused, with a wide array of tools to choose from, they have no idea which would be the best one. They had zero idea what any of them are for, but Yoshiko seems to have an eye for sharp blades. Without hesitating, the magenta-eyed girl quickly latched her hands onto a saw, asking Hanamaru to hold the screaming girl’s head steadily.

“Just do it, zura!”

Yoshiko couldn’t bear cutting through her adorable friend’s head, let alone hurting her, but from Ruby’s screams and Hanamaru’s pleas, she mustered up her courage, telling herself that it’ll all be fine in the end. With one last sigh, the fallen angel used the saw as quick as she could, pulling and pushing with all her might. Tears were already starting to drip from her magenta eyes as she muttered out her regretful words.

“Please forgive me…”

\----

“You what?!”

The table was slammed hard inside the student council room, where Yoshiko and Hanamaru were seated anxiously in front of the raging president. The trio were called upon when Dia was stood waiting outside the shed, no doubt those familiar screams might have attracted her.

Ruby was also seated beside her friends, with her upper head entirely wrapped under a bandage. The right side of the wrapping was completely drenched in blood, but it does its job preventing blood from leaking any further. Meanwhile, on the table was the freshly sliced tumour, resembling too much of the redhead’s face, albeit covered in red hair.

Dia was slightly squealing, she must’ve slammed the table too hard in her fit of rage. The two girls tried to suppress their giggles, knowing full well that this was no laughing matter.

The student council president noticed though, and it only made her entire face boil redder. With the obviously restrained giggles and the explanations she had heard from them, it was enough to justify Dia to lash out on her sister’s friends.

Yoshiko and Hanamaru could only gulp nervously, petrified on what would follow. The older Kurosawa’s head was shaking as much as it could, the girls were afraid that they might end up with another face to slice off. The first one was already traumatic enough that it might as well be their punishment.

But Dia knew well that rage doesn’t solve anything, and anger clouds judgment. Besides, it almost felt like it’s her turn to split into half anyways. The girls in front of her already had enough of things to take care of, so she took in some slow breaths, calming herself down. Now as composed as a student council president should be, she calmly told them off.

“Look, Yoshiko, this face here, it’s your responsibility. You’re free to do whatever you want with it; burn it, throw it, keep it; I don’t care. Just be more careful next time, will you?”

Yoshiko sheepishly nodded, her legs had been shaking the entire time and she just wants all this to end quickly. Hanamaru was surprised they got off scot-free.

“That’s it, zura?”

“I consider this is enough punishment for you. It was an accident, I understand, and I don’t see the need for any tougher measures when you already have a traumatic experience to deal with,” replied Dia while gesturing towards the detached face.

“Now, dismiss.”

The two quickly got up from their seats, Yoshiko picking up the thing on the table and placed it inside her bag. Not forgetting to bow, they left the room shortly after, leaving the Kurosawa sisters inside.

“Wow, you’ve heard what happened, right?”

Riko saw her juniors leaving the student council room hastily, while walking around the hallway with Chika and You. The second years were just minding their own business until they heard some conversation going on inside the room. They were eavesdropping for a bit before moving on, their faces filled with curiosity, followed by a confusing jumble of fear, disgust, and pity.

“Yeah, they’re lucky it’s Ruby and not Dia,” You giggled nervously, although the thought of having a severed face who could very well still be talking should be enough squick in general, doesn’t matter whose head it would be.

“I’d be so terrified if it was Dia…”

You’s banter was met with Chika’s nervous response, which prompted the rest to imagine such a chilling possibility.

\----

Chika’s bedroom was a hot pile of mess, magazines were strewn out across the floor, a pile of mikans was all over her bed, and the girl herself was lying on the floor, snoring unconsciously. Her hair was unkempt, while her lyric book was still open on the table, with only a single line being jotted down. The environment was not at all conducive, and the mess only made her room feel more cramped.

Not long after, the large pile was moving on its own, dropping some of Chika’s favourite fruit over her body. The pile kept on shaking until a foreign object protruded from it, slowly revealing to be a detached head. It had a familiar face with long black hair, a mole under her lips, and a pair of emeralds for her eyes. The head took in the horrible sight of a messy room, its habitant procrastinating from her task; just the thought of it was enough to make her feel like screaming.

And so she did, waking up the orange-haired girl from her deep slumber.

“BUU BUU DESU WA!”

\----

“Brrr…”

The girls could only shudder from their imagination, the idea of having not just a severed head, but a head of Dia herself intruding their privacy only made them terrified.

It didn’t stop Riko from teasing the lyricist though, which only made the orange-haired girl flushed from embarassment.

“Maybe you’ll finally get around to those lyrics…”

“Riko-chan!”

\----

After her usual bus trip, Yoshiko was walking along the sidewalk, finding somewhere to dispose of this head. But her walk was disrupted when she felt her bag getting wetter, as well as the faint cries her ears suddenly picked up. Curious, she went to a secluded spot at the nearby park, where she could safely unzip her bag.

“Y-You’re not going to burn a friend, aren’t you?”

Tears were flowing endlessly from Ruby’s emerald eyes, completely soaking the bottom of Yoshiko’s bag. Those pleas of mercy only made Yoshiko feel terrible, how could she ever do such evil to her loyal servant? Sure, the face was just an unneeded piece of tumour, but it was still Ruby. Her adorable redheaded classmate. Yohane’s favourite little demon. It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t the entire being.

After much thinking, she only mustered a smile into the bag, reassuring the crying face that she no longer means any harm. With that, she slowly zipped back her bag, and made her way back home immediately.

Minutes later, Yoshiko finally made it to her room, while gently placing her bag onto her table. Her parents were still away at work thankfully, makes it easier for her to be less suspicious. The dark-haired girl then slowly opened the bag, revealing its precious content to her cosy bedroom. Her hands gently held the face, carrying it outside after being kept there for a while.

Yoshiko could feel the awkward lump of meat behind the face, it felt extremely gross to the touch. She swore that her left hand must’ve touched her bare brain or something. At least the bleeding has stopped, but to be fair, the blood must’ve already dried up way back in the student council room, since the only thing her bag was soaked with was tears.

Steadily, the girl placed her friend’s head onto her wooden desk but was only met with unsatisfied screams.

“Ouch, that hurts!”

“Shh, keep quiet, please!” Yoshiko quickly shushed the cry-baby, extremely worried if her neighbours managed to pick up the screams.

“Why’d you put me on this hard desk?”

“Wait, wait, I was about to get a pillow for you…”

Yoshiko quickly grabbed the demon emoji pillow from her bed, and instantly placed it on her nightstand after some rearranging. She then carried the literal redhead over to her new resting spot, who was now pleased at the fluffiness of the pillow.

“So soft… Thank you, Yohane.” Ruby smiled; it was almost mischievous but with a hint of sincerity.

The magenta-eyed girl was surprised that her friend addressed her with her ‘real’ name, which only made her stutter more.

“It’s Yosh- Uhh, I mean, you’re welcome!”

Soon, Ruby’s face was feeling more comfortable, although her mere presence was still creeping Yoshiko out. She had to remind herself that she’s a fallen angel, and a detached talking face is nothing compared to the eldritch abominations she had so claimed to be friends with.

But then, it seems that Ruby herself is an eldritch of some sorts, so in a way, her claims are justified.

Absorbed by the softness, the redhead’s eyes were already closed shut, sleeping calmly over the purple pillow.

\----

“I’m home!”

Yoshiko had just gone through yet another day at school, though this time, it was as usual as it gets unlike the previous day. No careless mistakes, no angry presidents, and most importantly, no heads to saw through. Just some classes and after-school idol practice. The mundaneness was a refreshing breath from the crazy incidents that happened these few days, and she couldn’t bare to see her close friend falling victim to her clumsiness again.

Her parents hadn’t returned yet, but that doesn’t mean her words were all in vain. Inside her room lies a new dweller in the household, the exact same face Yoshiko saw back when she parted ways with the rest of Aqours after practice. But literally.

Only that the human-faced lump had grown into a full-fledged head, with an extremely small body sprouting from her neck. It was like seeing an uncanny real-life version of a chibi.

Ruby only smiled when she saw her caretaker entering the room, who was still astonished by her phenomenal growth. Her gentle smile was enough to calm the magenta-eyed girl down, who slowly closed the door and put her bag onto her bed.

Yoshiko had bought a couple of things to make this Ruby feel more at ease, such as an ornately designed flowerpot for the head to dwell in, and some cushion to help her feel comfortable inside it. After finishing the setup, she carried the head into the pot, who was happy with her new spot.

It’s kind of funny to treat this head like her pet, especially when she had already grown to treat Ruby as a close friend. Is that what Hanamaru feels like with her catgirl Ruby? Besides, it’s not really out of character for a fallen angel to have a talking human head as a pet, if anything it just tempts her to delve deep into her schtick with this head around. A literal demon among her ranks, it really was a tempting thought.

Besides, now that the head is fully developed, so was her red hair, being let down freely. It was a golden opportunity for Yoshiko to customize her own Ruby with some little demon flair. She tied the hair into the usual twintails, but they were decorated with a purple demon emoji hair pin on both sides.

The result was something adorably cute, words not generally used to describe a living decapitated human head. The dark-haired girl could only laugh slowly in her deeper voice, all while carrying Ruby over to the mirror. Even the redhead herself was happy, the extra flair wasn’t that excessive and she’s still, well, Ruby.

Meanwhile, Yohane, now hellbent in her persona, had something else under her sleeves as she pulled out a strawberry flavoured lollipop from her pocket. The bright pink candy made its way into Ruby’s tongue, who was licking it to no end.

But her enjoyment was cut short when she spat it out, almost squarely towards Yoshiko’s left eye, who was quick to dodge the projectile.

“Hey, what was that for? You almost blinded me!”

“You’d still have two left…” Ruby let out a playful banter, which only made Yoshiko redder.

“Wha- Hey, Yohane’s Third Eye is for looking beyond the mortal dimension-” She quickly realised what she meant, but her in-depth monologue on why Ruby was slightly wrong was interrupted by the girl herself, explaining why she spat it out in the first place.

“I want the chocolate banana flavour!”

“W-Was strawberry not good enough?”

“B-But that one’s limited time only. Yoshiko, please?”

Those green puppy eyes were extremely hard to resist, Yoshiko wasn’t sure if Ruby had always been so persuasive, or if it’s just her dangerous charms coming into play. Whatever it was, it was enough for the fallen angel to fall again.

“Fine, I’m going back to the 7-Eleven, just wait for a bit, ok?”

It took another several minutes before Yoshiko returns with the requested lollipop in hand, who then fed it to Ruby. This time, the redhead’s sugar crave was better satisfied, earning Yoshiko a sugary smile.

As her friend was enjoying her candy, Yoshiko quickly sat on her cushioned chair, and turned on her computer. It was a high-end one, designed to run the crispest of graphics down to the smallest of details, with a huge clear flat screen to properly deliver the experience. With a push of a button on the main unit, her keyboard started to glow in a variety of colours, the redhead could only look in awe.

“You wanna watch the great Yohane play some video games?”

Ruby enthusiastically nodded as a response, she tried to get into her friend’s streams but either she didn’t have the time, or she got spooked easily by the general vibe of her fallen angel-themed streams. The redhead had always been curious on what kind of video games Yoshiko likes to play, and to witness it in person is something livestreaming cannot offer.

The monitor was already lit up with a selection of games ready to be loaded up. Yoshiko clicked on an icon depicting a dragon in a circle among the many icons she had.

Mortal Kombat

Yoshiko had a wide variety of genres in her inventory, she grew to love fighting games and racing games, as well as some fantasy RPGs and first-person shooters. She also had some horror games as well, but it’s something she only played during her streams, and even that they were just requests from her fans. She wasn’t really that fond of those kind of games, but she managed to slowly build up her tolerance. Maybe having a talking head by her side could help.

Speaking of, the flowerpot was shaking rapidly, its host was already nowhere to be seen. Turns out the redhead doesn’t treat violence very well, which was rich coming from someone who scarred her twice. Heck, the gorefest back in the shed was definitely scarier. It didn’t stop Yoshiko from choosing another game though, she just felt like playing a fighting game right now, and Ruby could just hide inside that pot throughout her playthrough for all she cares.

“Fine, your loss then.”

\----

It was only November but the weather in Moscow had already started to dip low, low enough to make Eli crank up her heater and downing a shot of vodka to keep herself warm.

The former school idol had moved back to Russia not long after graduating, continuing her higher studies there, but also to help taking care of her grandmother over there as her parents stayed back with her younger sister Alisa who was still attending Otonokizaka. Eli now works as a manager for the Russian branch of a Japanese media company, the job pays well, and she even had a chance to visit their Tokyo headquarters sometimes.

She still kept in touch with the rest of μ’s since then, most notably her right hand in the student council, Nozomi. She would really like to stay longer back in Tokyo, especially with her purple-haired friend by her side, but occasional business visits would do for the meantime.

As the blonde laid herself over her bed inside her Soviet-era apartment block, she grabbed her phone on her nightstand, checking out all her notifications and social media. Their group chat from back in their school idol days was actually more active than it ever was, mostly because all its members had dispersed everywhere.

She then checked out her Instagram and came upon a post that caught her attention.

**niconii_01** autumn ocean with bae @nishikino_maki #No1Idol #chillin #niconiconii

Eli took in the details of the photo taken from a ferry; the beautiful evening orange hue of the skies perfectly complements the landscape of blue and green. She would’ve thought that the couple were heading to one of the many vacation homes the Nishikino family has, but the hilly island in front seemed alien to her, wondering where exactly her two friends were heading for. A quick peek under the username was the location, a name quite familiar to those still into the school idol scene.

Uchiura, Japan

Eli still remembers when Nico introduced the rest of μ’s to Aqours in their group chat, among the many other school idol groups she had shared in the chat. Even if it’s been years since they disbanded, they still were interested in the scene with varying levels. Nico and Hanayo are still the idol otakus they were, Honoka too was awed by some of the newcomers. What started as just a desperate idea to save their school ended up being an inspiration to many, the thought was enough for Eli to shed some tears of nostalgia, thinking how different things would turn out if she actually went her way to stop the idol group.

Eli didn’t really have any particular favourite among the slew of newcomers, but Aqours caught her heart, and it’s not just because of their music.

Sure, their songs were absolute bangers to her, the group themselves were very inspirational, but what really drew her in was a black-haired girl with green eyes, exuding such elegance and grace that almost made the blonde swoon. She couldn’t help but feel completely bewitched just by thinking about her.

Said admiration quickly shifted into obsession, to the point where Eli had scoured the entire database just to get closer to her best girl. For example, she found out that Dia Kurosawa is a student council president, much like herself back in the days. No wonder she saw so much of herself in Dia, it only makes her more relatable if anything.

She would do anything to be as close as she can with her idol, to express her appreciation and love in person, or at the very least, to just be able to listen to her voice; singing, talking, or even breathing.

And what better way to do so than to visit her home?

This is a golden opportunity; her lovey-dovey friends are going to spend some time at Aqours’ homeland and she wasn’t invited. Well, the reason was obvious, but at least they could have told her if they’re going to Uchiura of all places. Were her “stan Dia” messages under every Aqours-related link Nico has sent not enough to show why?

Whatever, if Nico’s not bringing her along, then she’ll make her. After looking up some flight tickets, she instantly opened her messaging app, typing at her idol-crazy friend to ask if she could tag along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you've heard of eli-obsessed dia, now get ready for dia-obsessed eli
> 
> on an unrelated note: niji hype!!  
> watched ep01 last saturday and oh my, i was excited the entire time! setsuna performing chase in literal idol hell is a highlight, the art style is just so goood, i really can't wait for the next episode already!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that i haven't updated this one in a while, but hey, just in time for halloween! here it goes!

The grinding noises of iron rails and wheels. The incessant chattering. The automated announcements from the PA system. They were just one of the many sounds accompanying Nico’s habitual commute to her workplace in Akihabara.

There really wasn’t anything of note along her journey today, until a beautiful young girl made her way inside the busy train.

The red-eyed girl was lucky her working hours are flexible, so she wouldn’t have to squeeze herself inside a sardine can on peak hours like most people do. Besides, a less crowded space meant that she could clearly observe the stranger’s features from behind her sunglasses without any obstructions.

Holding on to the handrails was a woman standing full of grace, with a figure so mesmerizing. Her grey eyes were hypnotic, and the beauty mark under the left one shows her uniqueness. Her long black hair was flowing freely; if she were to touch it, she could probably feel how silky smooth each of its strands were.

This lady was the most beautiful being that had ever graced her vision.

Her charms were so alluring, Nico was sure she had never come across anyone like this before. And it tempted her so much. As an idol manager, she could see the immense potential this young girl has to be very successful.

Nico was debating herself whether should she approach her, trying to recruit her to be an idol under her arms. But the renowned manager can be quite strict with her recruitment process, she only wanted the best under her portfolio. Nico had never recruited anyone without doing in-depth research about their background, that’s why a lot of her proteges are the ones who had proved their worth, ones that had built up a reputation almost comparable to her old school idol group.

But this woman right here is just a stranger, she didn’t even know her name, let alone if she had any prior idol experience before! But her beauty was so tempting, so alluring; if Nico were going to be honest, she could train this girl herself. She could train her to be the best idol the world had ever heard of. She will teach her how to make full use of her angelic beauty.

With the train getting closer to her destination each passing second, Nico decided to pull herself together, hoping to convince this beautiful lady to join her. She slowly stood up, stabilising herself before approaching her.

“Excuse me…”

“Wait, you’re Nico Yazawa, right? From μ’s?”

The red-eyed girl was genuinely caught surprised when she interrupted her. Sure, she had expected that a lot of people would have recognised her by now but hearing that from someone she so wanted to work with, it gave her hope that this will all run smoothly.

“Why yes I am, of course!” Nico cleared her throat and responded with much pride and exuberance, happily taking in the recognition.

The mysterious beauty smirked from the black-haired girl’s affirmation. “So, why did you come to talk to me all of a sudden?”

“Uhh, I know this might sound a bit too drastic for you, but would you like to be an idol?” Nico tried to convince the girl further by praising her appearance. “I mean, look at you! Your beauty is beyond anything I’ve ever seen, you’d be an instant star the second you make your debut!”

“Heh, glad that the number one idol in the universe noticed that.”

Nico erred briefly from the sudden remark, but it didn’t stop her from continuing to speak.

“So, what do you say?”

The grey-eyed lady slowly nodded. “Yes, sure, I don’t see any problem here.”

Her response was met with a wide grin from the red-eyed girl. “Great! We can start working together by tomorrow then,” Nico handed out her business card, “so, let’s meet together tomorrow morning, and if you have anything, just leave me a call.”

The alluring beauty only nodded, a soft smile slowly forming from her lips.

\----

Nico was comfortably sitting on her leather chair, waiting for the arrival of the lady she met yesterday into her office. The raven-haired girl hadn’t gotten any call since she gave out her business card, and that made her slightly anxious over what could be the outcome.

As she went on with her usual tasks, her telephone rang for a moment, before her arms quickly snatched it from her desk.

“Hello, Nico-san. Sorry to interrupt but I would like to inform that Tomie had just arrived. She will be at your office soon.”

“Who?” The idol manager was indeed expecting someone, but she just needed to be sure, lest that it might just be something else.

“Uhh,” her secretary paused for a while, with some faint exchanges of words before resuming, “she’s the girl you scouted on the train.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” Nico’s face turned slightly red. How could she forget to even ask what the beauty’s name was? Eager to meet her, she quickly expressed her gratitude before hanging up. “Thank you by the way!”

Now that her wait is finally over, she stopped doing anything, ready to welcome her future recruit.

As she stared outside at the city from her glass walled windows, she heard a loud ring coming from the doors; her special guest is finally here.

“Come in, please.”

The ringing stopped and was replaced with the sound a door being pushed inwards, revealing the lady.

Her graceful entry stunned Nico. She came here clearly dressed to impress.

The lady was wearing a beautiful plain grey dress, with a pleated skirt running until just above her kneecaps. Her slender legs were covered in black stockings, hugging her limbs like a second skin. The dress left her porcelain shoulders bare; Nico was admiring just how flawless her skin was. Her face was extremely alluring, and her straight black hair was gorgeously smooth.

Her beauty was so perfect, so charming, it almost made Nico feel envious.

She had to gulp first to get herself back together and assume a more polite front. “Please, have a seat.”

Her guest responded by calmly sitting on the chair in front of her.

Once both parties are at ease, the recruiter started talking to her potential recruit.

“So, Tomie, that’s your name, right?”

The grey-eyed lady nodded. “Yes, Tomie Kawakami.”

Nico began to introduce her employer, a huge player in Japan’s entertainment industry. The company has plenty of famous idols affiliated with them, and Nico herself was responsible for some of them. She then went on to talk about how she only wants the best from her stars, and Tomie was no exception.

The grey-eyed beauty was asked about her prior idol activities, to which there was surprisingly none for someone who looks the part. But Nico reassured her that it’s nothing to worry about, telling her guest that she saw great potential in her, and that she would train her to become the perfect idol.

“Alright then,” Nico finished off her welcome speech by dragging some documents over, “before we go through the contract, are you up for the challenge?”

Tomie nodded happily, much to the delight of her future boss.

“Great! All you have to do now is sign here.” The scarlet-eyed girl gestured her fingers to an open space in the paperwork. This went on for a couple more times as they went through different papers, but after a few moments, the contract is finalised.

Tomie is now officially an idol under Nico’s management.

“Now with that done, let’s go to the practice room, shall we? I’ll show you what it takes to be a true idol!”

Nico accompanied her new recruit to the lift, taking them to another floor where the practice room is located.

Once they got there, Nico went on to explain the basics of being a great idol to Tomie. The manager demonstrated many examples to support her arguments, as she wishes to mould her future star to be the greatest idol in the industry.

“So, let’s start with the very first step: your idol persona.”

“Persona?” Tomie curiously asked.

Nico went on to explain what she meant passionately. “You see, what the fans want from idols is an exciting, dreamlike time! To give the fans what they want, idols need an appropriate persona.”

“I see.” The long-haired girl nodded.

“Here, let’s start with an example.”

The scarlet-eyed promptly turned around, ready to show off her signature move made famous during her school idol days.

“Nico Nico Nii!”

She quickly turned around with the brightest smile she could ever pull off, her two hands already forming a sign by holding her middle and ring fingers. For each word uttered, she swiftly brought her arm downwards, followed by another, before finishing it off by moving both her hands beside her smiling face, still with the same gesture.

Tomie only stood still, her face went blank; Nico assumed that she must’ve impressed her underling very well.

“Now, after you. Maybe try using your name if you want to.”

This time, it’s the grey-eyed girl’s turn to show what she could do. Being a complete novice to the industry, her manager thought that maybe she could try using some existing catchphrases first before coming up with one of her own.

“Tomi-Tomi-eee?”

The girl hesitantly repeated the same motions she had seen first-hand, trying her best to put some passion and emotions into it. Nico wasn’t entirely pleased, but she understood that it can get awkward for first timers like her. But that doesn’t mean she was going to be lenient, as she asked her recruit to repeat the gesture until she was satisfied.

As her recruit continued with her motions, Nico pulled out her smartphone, wanting to record the session for analysis.

“Uhh, can you take your phone away, please?” Tomie quickly stopped her practice once she saw what her manager was doing. Nico could sense her uncomfortable tone, so out of respect, she held off the recording for now. Turns out there’s another thing that needs to be worked out.

The duo continued to work together for days, as Nico taught her more about idols and what was expected of her as one. The experienced girl had also guided her training alongside the best physical coaches she could find, hoping to build up the necessary stamina she needed to perform for a prolonged period. Nico could see that Tomie is a naturally confident person, but for some reasons, she always shied away from cameras.

That wasn’t the only thing that bothered her. During their sessions together, Nico got a further glimpse of her recruit’s personality, and it’s starting to slowly get on her nerves. She found out how entitled the girl can be, being so demeaning to all her assistants. Her toxic personality made it harder to work with, sometimes Nico wondered if she regretted bringing her in.

But how could she ever regret it? This lady in front of her is beauty incarnate, behaviour be damned. She could teach her manners if she wanted to. She doesn’t care how hard it can be to shake her toxicity away, Nico was very confident that all this is just a minor setback and it would all be worth it in the end.

Shamefully, their cooperation only lasted for a few weeks, when her wretchedness became the straw that broke the camel’s back.

It was the first photoshoot for Tomie, and Nico worked hard to train her to stop shying away from cameras. The manager hadn’t taken any photos of the grey-eyed girl yet, but she was totally confident that the photoshoot would run smoothly.

But when Nico brought her to the company’s studio, Tomie vehemently rejected any advances by the photoshoot crew.

“No. I’m not doing this.”

Nico was understandably mad. All her time spent on moulding the perfect idol and this is what she got in return? “What? Why?”

“Like I said, I’m not comfortable with photographs of me being taken.”

“T-That’s stupid! Have you ever seen any idols that refuse to have photos of themselves? None!”

Tomie laughed sinisterly, her unsettlingly cool demeanour was a marked contrast with Nico’s brewing anger.

“You’re stupid. Trying to sell my beauty to the masses. Hmpf, I don’t need you for that. I can just attract them however I want.”

“Yeah, with what? No photos?” Nico started to raise her tone angrily.

“Admit it, Nico. You’re just a has-been. If you really are the number one idol in the universe, you would still be on the stage instead of being here. I pity you.” Tomie kept her cool, continuing to humiliate her manager coldly. “But after working with you for a while, I can see why. You’re terrible. Annoying. A talentless hack.”

Her malicious words were enough to put Nico’s rage over the boiling point. “What the fuck did you just say about me?”

“The bitter truth. Oh, and that Nico Nico Nii thing? So outdated. It was never even tasteful to begin with.”

It was at that moment where Nico snapped. With all her might and rage, she threw her cup of coffee at the grey-eyed girl, instantly soaking her dress with the hot beverage.

“Get lost. Get the fuck out of here, you bitch! I don’t wanna see your face ever again!”

“D-Did you just…”

Before Tomie could even finish talking, Nico angrily walked towards her, and forced her outside. “Get out! Don’t even think of stepping into my office ever again!”

With that, the angry lady slammed the door shut, much to the worry of the others inside. Some of them had asked Nico if she was fine, but considering what had just unfolded, maybe it’s time for her to take a break.

But her break went on for days. Ever since the incident, she had grown more obsessive towards Tomie. Sure, just thinking about her makes her guts churn, but at the same time, it felt like she could never get this woman out of her mind. Her alluring beauty cursed her thoughts; Nico could never find a woman as beautiful as Tomie.

Her obsession led to countless sleepless nights, calling in sick and never going outside at all throughout the week. Alongside some of her tasks that she was able to do from home, she went on to research about this maleficent beauty, and how was she so irresistible.

She wanted to know her secrets, how she became the textbook definition of beauty; her jealousy was starting to become more limitless and downright dangerous. Nico was neglecting much of her life just because of this one lady, and she will never rest until she finds out everything about this wretched beauty.

It took Nico a week before she finally got out of her dwelling, accepting an invitation from an old friend for a lunch together. Like her, Hanayo was also working in the idol industry, and when she heard of what happened to Nico, she got really concerned and hoped that with time, her red-eyed friend would feel better.

Hanayo was relieved when Nico had at least tidied up her appearance, although her eyebags were still noticeable. The pair started to talk with each other with their meals served, asking how their lives have been lately. The brunette was glad when her friend told her she was getting better and was expected to get back to work the next day.

But when Nico told her about the mysterious beauty that had haunted her thoughts for the past week, Hanayo instantly stopped her munching, and simply dropped her chopsticks.

“Stop. Let’s not talk about her anymore.”

Nico was curious, had anything she said triggered her?

“But why? I have to find out why that nasty bitch is so beautiful.”

“No, you don’t.” Hanayo asserted. “You don’t wanna go that way.”

“What do you mean?”

Hanayo adjusted her spectacles and took in a deep breath.

“I had an uncle, Ryo. We didn’t really meet each other that often, but from what I remember, he was a great guy. He modelled for a living, and everything seemed to go well for him. I was just a kid back then, but I could still remember watching the news together with my parents one day, and all of us were in shock when we heard of what happened to him.”

“W-what happened?”

Hanayo continued with a heavy heart. “His face. Someone slashed his face and that left a nasty scar; his model career was practically over. We lost all contact with him; my dad tried to call him many times, but nothing ever came out of it. And now, we all have no idea what happened to him since then.”

While the story was sad enough, Nico failed to see how this relates with her situation. “What does this have anything to do with this, anyways?”

“That name, Nico. Before that incident, my uncle was dating Tomie. I’m pretty sure by now you would’ve come across one of those stories.”

Nico quickly dismissed her point. Sure, she had read about it, but it just felt downright silly for the red-eyed girl. “Pfft, there’s no way any of that can be real. Like be real, Hanayo! If she really was like that, someone would’ve experimented on her or something. Like come on, a girl who could just multiply like that? We would’ve got plenty of them in Tokyo if so.”

Hanayo could only sigh, worried for her friend.

“Well, up to you to believe it or not, but whatever you do Nico, I just hope you stay safe and be careful.”

\----

“You alright, Nico-chan?”

Nico was brought back to reality when Maki called out to her. “Yeah, I’m fine…”

The sweet orange hue of the sunset accompanied the couple’s ferry ride to a beautiful island across the sea. They had booked a honeymoon trip to Uchiura, eager to spend some time together at this lovely seaside village. While they were en route to their hotel, the two were at the back of the ferry, admiring the magnificent views.

As they both got closer, they started holding each other’s hands, enjoying its warmth. Nico might seem fine on the surface, but Maki could tell that she had a lot on her mind.

The redhead inched her head closer to her girlfriend’s, as lavender meets scarlet. Under the lovely orange skies, Maki gently pressed her lips to Nico’s, hoping that it would make her feel genuinely better. The kiss lasted for several seconds, but if it were up to them, they would rather stay attached all the way to the other side. Well, at least they’ll have a whole night to do so, and probably more.

“Still thinking about Tomie, aren’t you? Don’t pretend like I didn’t know, I read the news too.” Maki had already figured out Nico’s ulterior motive for their honeymoon trip.

“What? It’s not lying if I said we’re gonna spend some lovely time together and maybe watch the Love Live! regionals over here, right?”

“That, and trying to find her whereabouts.” Maki added with a smirk.

“Look who’s talking,” retorted Nico. “I’m not the only one here who’s obsessed with her, y’know.”

Maki was caught red-faced, her fingers quickly twirling her strands of red. Nico was right. The junior doctor could still remember those bizarre days during her final years in medical school, and how it changed her life forever.

\----

Maki was going through her final years in medical school where she would need to start doing her internship, opting to do so at the university hospital. This would be a great opportunity for the redhead to gain some practical experience, something she needed so much if she were to inherit her family’s hospital.

The internship went smoothly most of the time, she was trained and aided by the professionals over there about the relevant procedures, how to provide high quality care to the patients, etc. Maki was specialising on surgery, so she ended up spending a lot of her time in the operating room.

She had seen a lot of nasty stuff throughout her time there, ranging from limbs bent awkwardly to profuse bleeding all over the body. But one that stood out the most was in a different league entirely.

Maki still remembers her very final days at the hospital, where she had to attend yet another operation. The patient was a young woman suffering from a kidney problem and was in dire need of a transplant. Her condition had deteriorated that day, and she was instantly put into critical care while waiting for a suitable donor.

Coincidentally, a recently dead body just made its way through the emergency ward, and the doctors found out that they both share the same blood type. They needed the relevant permissions from the deceased’s parents though, but they were lucky that one had came in and gave all the necessary approval, although his behaviour felt a bit off.

The operation was a success thankfully, but the relief did not last long.

The patient was initially thought to be stable, but just days after, a bulge started to grow from her stomach, to the point where the woman passed out from the excruciating pain. Again, Maki was called to assist with the following procedure. She heard about the X-ray results of the lady and she couldn’t believe what she had heard. A kidney growing a head that burrows into a stomach was unheard of, let alone possible.

But her doubts were completely washed away during the operation, it was a sight forever written in her memory.

When the surgeons cut open the stomach, they had found a human head occupying the entire space, an ugly mess of blood covering it. The doctors only stood in silence, shocked beyond belief over what they saw. The situation was made more eerie when the thing instantly rose up from the patient’s body, announcing her name to the entire room.

Tomie.

Ever since then, everyone who was involved promised to keep their mouths shut over the matter, and the kidney monster was stealthily kept under the basement. But that didn’t stop the rumours from circulating.

Even Maki herself was curious about it sometimes, and by overhearing some chatters from her colleagues, she couldn’t help but to feel impressed. They found out that the entity has a terrifying ability to regenerate, much like planarians who could regrow themselves when severed. Days later, gossip was spreading again about how the thing quickly grew under radiation.

Meanwhile for the patient, she had recovered very quickly, inciting concerns by the doctors if the leftover cells from the kidney was behind it. What they thought could be cancerous ended up as something of a cure; not only did the woman was completely healthy, but her body had also undergone some changes too, becoming more beautiful.

Maki thought to herself, the future of medicine is practically here! If they could do some thorough research on the entity, they would find many solutions to much of our problems. Imagine that! This would make stem cell research looks more like child play. If they could figure out how this kidney managed to regenerate into a full body, it would be extremely beneficial for humanity as a whole.

But alas, the doctors were unable to do so.

Maki could recall the day when she commuted to the hospital like always but was met instead by a crowd of people surrounding a burned building. As it turns out, the main doctors of the faculty were charred to death, alongside their research specimen. While for the patient, she had already disappeared, with another patient noting that she had changed so much that she was no longer recognisable.

\----

“How can I not be? This Tomie; she could change the world. I’m talking about the future of medicine here!”

Nico quickly put her hands over her ears, as if she had heard the same point over and over again. “Ah, you’re going off with that medicine tangent again. See, we hold a grudge to the same girl, just for different reasons.”

“I wouldn’t call mine a grudge…” Maki corrected.

With their ferry about to dock, the girls made their way back inside and picked up their belongings. Once ashore, the adorable couple followed the signboard to the hotel.

The two were easily impressed by the views of the nature around them, but more so when they finally got a glimpse of their hotel, looking exactly like the images they saw from their booking website. It took a few more minutes before they entered the main lobby, where they met a friendly receptionist to process their booking.

When they received the key for their room, they turned around and saw a blonde girl who quickly stopped on her tracks from wherever she walked in from.

“OH. MY. GOD!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in this house, we will not stand for nico slander  
>  ~~also i can't get the image of tomie doing the nico nii out of my head~~


End file.
